


Sensei's Rulebook

by Lilkiwibird



Category: Assassination Classroom, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Anime, Assassin - Freeform, Detention, Fluff, Heroine, Homicide, Invisibility, Ketsubutsu Academy - Freeform, Murder, Possessive Behavior, Seiai Academy, Superpowers, UA, UV, Yakuza, bad kids, heliokinesis, hero - Freeform, shiketsu high - Freeform, supernova
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2020-11-06 20:20:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 57
Words: 168,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20802668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilkiwibird/pseuds/Lilkiwibird
Summary: "Shrinking in a corner,Pressed into the wall;Do they know I'm present at all?Is there a written rule book,That tells you how to be-All the right things to talk about-That everyone has but me?-Wallflower, Lang Leav





	1. Rule #31

_ **Rule #31: Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being excited of what could go right** _

_ **Change is always hard, no matter who you are. From something as simple as changing from one brand of shampoo to another, to moving from one city to another. In that moment you're probably consumed in your anxieties & fears with your imagination running wild. Whose to say what could happen?** _

"Is that the last of the boxes, dearie?" A short elderly woman asked from her position, perched atop a step stool behind the small kitchen island where she continued to slice the vegetables in front of her.

"Yes Grammy. This is the last one" An equally short brunette wandered passed with a large cardboard box in her hand; headed towards the guest bedroom.

"And thank God for that" An elderly man grumbled with his lips twitching up into a smile as he shuffled into the living room and ran a hand down his sore back.

"Oh just drink your tea, Grumpy" Grandmother handed him a cracked mug and matching kettle.

"Yes dear" Grandfather moved over to the kotatsu with items in hand before twisting to search for the TV remote.

_ **How can one tell if you've experienced change, you might ask? By the marks they have gathered of course. From the physical scars that litter their flesh like freckles to the emotional ones hidden behind fake smiles and pained eyes.** _

The brunette sat on the end of her sunken bed of her new bedroom, amongst the scattered cardboard boxes plastered with colourful labels depicting her name and what lay within. The nearest box read:

_HAGAKURE TORU_

_SCHOOL_

With a sigh, she pulled it close, unfolding the flaps so she could sift through what was inside. It was the very first item atop the pile of mix-matched uniforms that made her pause. It was a large-and she meant large-yellow yearbook, simply entitled: _Class 3-E: Memories with Koro-Sensei._

Unbidden tears gathered in her eyes and a fond smile twitched at the corner of her lips as she flipped through the pages of the tome, the spine worn from its constant use. Toru had graduated from Kunugigaoka Junior High School only a few months prior, but it still felt like a lifetime ago.

A small smile made its way onto her face as her gaze drifted from one image to another, each depicting a happy scene from the passed year. There was just so many memories & advice packed within this one book, and each one filled her with emotion as she looked through them all. And all personalised just for her.

Toru huffed a laugh at the image in front of her. She remembered that day; it had been Kayano's idea. In the picture, Koro-Sensei was in the middle of swan-diving into the giant pudding the class had crafted, an expression of pure bliss spread across his face.

_Koro-Sensei never did anything by halves,_ She fingered the page, worn by her constant rubbing. _But then again, neither did we._ The next image showed Koro-Sensei hog-tied and hanging from one of the trees outside the classroom as everyone took turns trying to hit him. He looked liked some sort of strange piñata.

_ **Despite this, you might find you've come to enjoy these changes. Embrace them, even. But I suppose in the end, that's what we do; adapt to survive and all that. What else would you expect? We're only human after all.** _

Reluctantly putting aside the yearbook, Toru pulled out a somewhat crumpled set of papers that she tried to smooth out as best she could. They were forms for the entrance exam that would take place soon at UA High School.

It was one of the reasons why she was here. Here in Musutafu, living with her grandparents for the foreseeable future instead of back home with her parents in Tokyo, where she would have undoubtedly attended one of the local public high schools.

_ **The first incident was in Qingqing city. An extraordinary child was born who radiated light. After that reports of people with superpowers had popped up across the globe. No one knew what was causing these Quirks, but before long, the supernatural became the totally normal.** _

Next she pulled out a smaller box containing several items from the year before. Inside there were the Anti-Sensei weapons (green rubber-like knives and a pair of BB-shooting M1911A1s) as well as a couple of cases of Anti-Sensei ammunition-rubber-like bullets that reminded her more of paintball pellets than anything else-that she had collected from the year before. Aside from the weapons, an ultraviolet torch lay nestled among the rolls of ammunition, the purple lens glistening against the pellets despite being turned off.

_ **Dreams became a reality. The world became a superhuman society with about 80% of the population possessing some uncanny ability. Our streets looked like scenes from comic books as cities swirled with chaos and confusion, a new profession dominated the collective consciousness. It was an age of heroes.** _

Sometimes she wished that she had been born with a transformation-quirk; one that made her stand out, but in a good way. It was selfish of her, she knew that. But still… alas, she held both a mutation & emitter Quirk instead. So it was that her disembodied clothes floated through the streets like a ghost possessed, her own body only visible in UV light. People always stared like she was an animal at the zoo; more so here in Musutafu than back home, even amongst all the other strange oddities in the city.

_ **With the rise of superpowers came the explosive increase in the criminal activity. While governments were stuck trying to figure out how to reform laws with Quirks in mind, courageous people started performing heroic acts to keep our city safe.** _

Her thoughts then drifted to the first few days she had been exploring the city, where she had heard more whispers about her appearance from random strangers than she could ever want. It was rather sad that she could count the number of greetings and warm welcomes she had received, on the one hand.

Despite this however, Toru still enjoyed exploring the nooks and crannies of the city. From the apartment blocks stacked together like they were made of legos to the lush green forestry parks that were dotted around the place.

She had also taken to pursuing the different merchandise stores that sold everything hero related in her need to familiarise herself with her future career. Even going so far as to purchase a couple of plushies of two of her favourite heroes (Edgeshot & Electoplant) that now sat against her pillows along with the yellow rag doll octopus she had made.

_ **Protecting us against the villains who abused their powers for evil. With overwhelming public support, heroes found an official place as peacekeepers overseen by the government. Those who performed the best, were paid the most and got all the fame and glory. Their careers depended on them to stay in the spotlight.** _

Her grandparents, having been the ones to suggest such a career, did all they could to encourage her growing interest. Even showing her an old video of All Might, the top hero, as he rescued people from a burning disaster zone. The video in question, was some shaky disaster footage from the debut of All Might. It didn't show much about the hero, but it served its purpose well enough.

In turn, her grandmother had also pulled out some of her old training manuals for Toru to go over when she got the time. Although both her grandparents held somewhat insignificant Quirks (what with her grandfather being able to create small scale illusions and her grandmother could shift her density); they still served them well.

_ **However when Quirks first came into the public eye, there were many research studies conducted and doctors discovered a link between the bones in a person's foot and the likelihood of them having a Quirk.** _

Moving away from the forms in her lap, making a note to sit down and fill them in later, and the weapons in the box, she pulled out one of the Anti-Sensei knives. A green, rubbery knife with faint white lettering engraved along the blade. Falling backwards onto the bed, Toru clasped the dagger to her chest as a fond smile made its way onto her face and her thoughts turned from future heroes to past assassins. She missed her friends from 3-E dearly, but now she had the opportunity to make new friends here.

_ **People with powers have only one joint in their pinky toes; their bodies having evolved into a more streamlined version of the human form. As a result, those who had two-jointed pinky toes were unlikely to develop Quirks. That was 20% of the population.** _

Onwards and upwards, as her mother liked to say.


	2. Rules #32

_ **Rule #32: School and status have nothing to do with it. Whether a fish lives in a clear stream or a water ditch. So long as it continues swimming forward, it will grow up beautifully** _

The morning of the entrance exam found Toru Hagakure both excitedly and nervously bounding through the large concrete arches that lined the path to the front door. Dodging stragglers left and right, Toru made her way towards the lecture hall where they were to go for the first portion of the exam.

Gazing around at her fellow examinees, Toru noticed that like her, they had garbed themselves in their current school uniforms. There were a few here and there who appeared to have mutant-Quirks whilst everyone else seemed to have Emitter or Transformation-type Quirks.

Tightening the hold on her backpack straps, Toru shuffled forward a little faster, wanting to get away from the odd looks she was getting. But who could really blame them? Floating clothes usually turned a fair amount of heads no matter who you were.

So here she was, walking across the threshold of the UA property line. It must have looked odd to everyone else. What with the pale yellow cardigan and blue vest paired with matching pleated skirt and full length tights seemingly floating in the air. Today, she had decided to tie her hair back into two braids that were only seen by the two yellow ribbons that floated at the end of them.

So lost in thought, Toru didn't even notice the person in front of her had stopped until it was too late. The pair ended up crashing to the floor in a groaning heap of limbs and bags; Toru's chin smacking against the person's back with a painful jolt as she went down.

"Ow!" Whined the person beneath her.

"Sorry!" Apologised Toru as she disentangled her legs from theirs and moved to grab her bag from where she had dropped it. Turning to hand the person's bag to them, she saw that the person (who appeared relatively okay) stood at least a good head or so taller than her and wore his brown curls tied back in a short ponytail.

"Uh, thanks…?" Said the brunette taking his bag from her.

"Oh! I'm Hagakure Toru!" Toru replied sheepishly rubbing her nape as she replied.

"Uraraka Shiro" He replied, swinging his own bag over his shoulder, "So, invisibility? That's…cool"

"Uh, thanks" Toru gripped onto her straps as she shifted in place, awkwardness enveloping the two as the stilted conversation continued. "So, what about you?"

"Huh?"

"What's your Quirk?"

"Oh, it's uh, gravity manipulation"

"Oh that's cool!"

"Yeah"

"…Do you wanna head inside?"

"Uh, sure" Shiro nodded as the two headed inside.

* * *

Despite the numerous signs and students scattered around the place, it still took them several tries to find the right lecture hall. Once there, the two had received their individual packets that contained the things they would need for their upcoming exam; before moving off to find their assigned seats.

The large lecture hall that had been designated for the exam orientation was filled to the brim with every hero-course hopeful coming in every shape, size and species. Toru eventually found herself seated with a blonde with his tail curled around him as he sat her left and to her right a ginger girl with bright green eyes.

Small and awkward pleasantries were shared between them as they got themselves situated, before they turned to the front where one of the examiners called for everyone's attention as the large screen behind him lit up with the UA logo. Toru faintly recognised him as one of the top pro heroes that was associated with UA High, Present Mic.

"What's up you UA candidates!" His voice sounded almost as cartoonish as he appeared, "Thanks for tuning into me, your school DJ! C'me on and let me hear ya!" He paused for any applause or cheering, but all he received was silence from the large crowd. "Keepin' it mellow, huh? That's fine, I'll just skip right to the main show. Let's talk about how this practical exam's going to go down, okay?" He brushed off the silence, "Are you ready? Yeah!"

Although no one replied to his attempts at engaging his audience, it was fair to say that there were a fair few candidates who were having fan moments over the pro in front of them. One boy became seemingly so overwhelmed by his emotions that he let out a high pitched squeak that drew several eyes to him.

"Like you application says, today you rockin' boys and girls will be conducting two minute mocked battles in super hot urban settings!" The screen behind Mic changed to show a map of the main campus and the six seperate testing sites. "Feast your eyes, my friends. After I drop the mic here, you'll head out to your specified battle centres. Sound good?"

Toru glanced down at her exam ticket to see she had been assigned to battle centre D. "Oh, I see" Hummed Kendo, looking down at her own ticket.

"Hm?" Toru quietly asked.

"They're splitting us up so that we can't work with any of our friends"

"Oh yeah, you're right. Our examinee numbers are one after the other, but we're assigned to different battle centres"

Down below, the screen changed to a new slide to reveal a clump of animated buildings plus four black silhouettes of mechanical creatures, each with their own point value. "Okay, okay, let's check out your targets. There are three types of faux villains in every centre; you'll earn points based on their level of difficulty, so better choose wisely"

Next an animated gameplay of Present Mic appeared on the screen sort of like a demonstration as to what they should do. "Your goal in this exam is to use your Quirk to raise your scores by shredding these villains like a mid-song guitar solo. But check it, make sure you're keeping things heroic. Attacking other examinees, is a UA no-no. Ya dig?"

"Excuse me, sir but I have a question" Piped up a boy from the middle section of the lecture hall.

"Hit me!" Mic replied, pointing to him.

"On the print out you listed four types of villains, not three. With all due respect, if this is an error on official UA materials, it is shameful…"

"Geez, he's really going for it, innit he?" The blonde a row down muttered. Toru couldn't help but agree. This kid was clearly from some kind of money; you could just tell by the way he was speaking.

"Alright, alright, examinee #7111, thanks for calling in with your request. The fourth villain type is worth zero points, that guy is just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle centre, think of it as a hurdle you should try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, it's just that there's…kinda no point. I recommend my listeners try to ignore it and focus on the ones toppin' the charts"

"Thank you very much, please continue" Bowed the boy.

"Oh, I get it. So they're kinda like traps you've gotta by like in video games" Ojiro commented quietly.

"Yeah the whole thing's like a video game, eh?" Replied the guy on his other side.

"That's all I got for you today, so I'll sign off with a little present: a sample of out school motto! As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down: a true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes. Mmhm, now that's a tasty soundbite! Ya ready to go beyond? Let's hear a PLUS ULTRA! Good luck! Hope you practised more than hitting just books!"


	3. Rule #21

_ **Rule #21: The key point is to be flexible where the target is concerned** _

_ **The hallow grounds of UA, the only school with the best hero training course in the world, the place every kid wants to go.** _

Once changed into varying pieces of sportswear, the candidates had split up and divided themselves up between the six battles centres; where they waited in front of the entrance, ready to begin. Wearing everything from school tracksuits to karate gis to spandex suits.

_ **Sure, there are similar programmes out there but they don't hold a candle to UA's. It's why it's almost impossible to get in.** _

In Toru's case, she had dressed in the updated version of Class 3-E's PE uniform. The matching grey cargo hoodie and shorts sat comfortably on her figure and the black tights and kneepads helped to give her a little extra padding & warmth should she need it.

_ **The school's alumni list is a whose who of idols:** _

_ **All Might, the most famous pro there is.** _

_ **Endeavour, the legendary fiery peacekeeper with the most wins under his belt.** _

_ **Best Jeanist, the denim-clad award-winning marvel** _

_This is it._ Toru thought, staring up at the ginormous wooden gates that marked the entrance to battle centre D, _Time to put my training to the test and give it my all. I won't let them down! Let's do this!_

_ **Graduating from UA is basically a requirement if you wanna be a great hero. This is it, the first step in becoming a pro.** _

Mutters rang through the crowd gathered as they waited for the gates to open. Toru rocked back and forth on her heels as she glanced around at her peers. She didn't really recognise the faces around her; maybe one here or there that she had seen on the way in this morning, but none she could put a name to.

There was the scantily-clad girl with dark hair off to her left, then there was the black-haired boy who looks like he had plastic joints on his elbows. Momentarily, she thought she spotted Shiro off to the side as he chatted with two short blondes, (who could easily pass for twins) all of them dressed in similarly coloured tracksuits.

Her musings were soon cut however, from the sudden apparition of Present Mic atop one of the watchtowers that bordered the very large door. "RIGHT! LET'S START! GET MOVING! THERE ARE NO COUNTDOWNS IN REAL BATTLES! RUN! RUN! RUN! YOU'RE WASTING AIRTIME HERE!"

At those words, the large doors behind them slid open in one slick motion, as if they weren't just large slabs of wood. As one, the group of candidates spun on their heels and raced inside, ready to face whatever was thrown at them.

Once inside, Toru could see that the arena had been set up to look like a typical city with the buildings practically piled one on top of the other. There were broken buildings and rubble already strewn around the place as if another battle had already occurred here.

Reaching the square at the end of the street, all of the candidates split up, intent in their search for the robots. While some chose to head straight for the robots, others took to higher vantage points, gathering information before they attacked. In Toru's case, she scaled a nearby lamppost like a monkey.

Once seated atop the head of the lamppost with her ankles locked together as she straddled it, she then turned her attention to the street below, waiting for a robot to pass by underneath her. In the end, she didn't have to wait long. Whilst her fellow peers ran amok beneath her like a swarm of ants, she focused her attention on the hoard of robots headed her way.

The stocky build of a couple of two-pointers and three-pointers rolled into the area, their scanners searching for any signs of life. Down below a few figures were making a beeline for the approaching robots.

_Oh no you don't!_ Toru thought as she felt her hands and forearms heat up with the building power of her Quirk. The familiar heat of the solar lights lit up her skin like a Christmas tree as she poised her hands into claw-like shapes; each one aimed towards the robots down below.

Her Quirk, Prism, was an odd one. Along with the invisibility that she typically wore around her like a safety net, she could also manipulate the oxygen within her body and turn it into solar lights which she could in turn use to fight. Theoretically speaking of course, she could also leech the light off of external sources, but that was something she had yet to put into practise.

_ **BREATHE IN.** _

She pointed her clawed fingers towards the incoming robots, the solar light almost blinding beneath her skin.

_ **BREATHE OUT.** _

Double check that her targets were line like a sniper in its nest.

_ **FIRE!** _

Two concentrated beams of blinding light shot from her fingertips, headed straight towards the incoming enemy. Flying over the heads of her peers, the lights hit their marks with surprising accuracy, piercing straight through the metallic armour like it was made of butter.

_5 points._

Sweeping her hands out in front of her, the lights following her actions as they sliced through everything in their paths. Nothing was safe.

_25 points._

With sweat on her brow, Toru released her hold on her lights, letting the Quirk fade back beneath her skin as she caught her breath. With the current hoard now decimated, she knew she would have to move on if she wanted to better her chances of passing the exam. And fast, time was not on her side.

* * *

Meanwhile, tucked away in a secure location the faculty of UA Highs sat gathered around the many screens where they viewed the current exam taking place. Varying images of carnage and destruction where displayed on the large screen, the different cameras covering every candidate within the battle grounds.

"Clearly the examinees have no idea how many villains are present or their locations. They have limited time, must cover a vast area and hunt down every last target. Some use information gathering abilities to plan out strategies" Chirped Principal Nezu, his attention turning to the window where Shoji Mezo stood with his bat-like limbs spread out as he searched.

His gaze then floated over to the two windows showing Iida Tenya and Lee Yuna as they raced around the respective battle grounds. "While others rely on speed to pull ahead of their peers"

Next was Aoyama Yuga who appeared calm and collected despite the beam of light firing from his stomach. "Of course remaining calm under pressure can be a huge advantage"

Then there was Bakugo Katsuki who stood panting amidst a pile of robots reduced to rubble and broken parts. "As can pure power and combat ability. The most successful students use a combination of all these tactics, they're the ones who rack up the highest scores"

"Mm, I'd say this year's group looks promising" Midnight mused as her gaze swept over the different feeds displayed before them.

"There's still plenty of time before it's over. The real test is yet to come" Replied Vlad King, pressing the switch for the final combatants as the time ticked down.

* * *

Suddenly a large rumble and crash rocked the battle ground as the 0 pointer finally made its appearance. "Holy shit!" Toru breathed staring up at the monstrous robot. All around her, the other examinees were sporting the varying levels of the same expression as she.

They could only watch on as the creature rose to its full height, easily overtaking the large skyscrapers that it was sandwiched between. A large mechanical arm swung up and outwards into the building on its right.

The shockwave that was released blew back not only those standing closest to it, but everyone as far back as the adjacent street on the other side of the square. It wasn't long before terror-filled screams rang throughout the air as crowds turned tail and ran.

Toru was just about to follow the masses when Shiro (who had been standing next to her) called out. "TAMAKI!" Snapping around, Toru followed his line of sight to see one of the blondes she had seen with him earlier, except now she was on the receiving end of a large mechanical fist that was bearing down her with all the grace of a bull in a china shop.

It appeared she possessed some sort of teleportation Quirk, but had mistimed her landing which ended up with her free falling right in the line of fire. "Something's wrong" Shiro breathed watching his friend in peril.

"What? What is it?" Toru asked.

"Tamaki's a teleporter but she's not moving!"

"Maybe we could throw something to knock her out of the way?"

"And what would we use? We could hurt Tamaki if we're not careful" Toru could almost feel the waves of panic rolling off of Shiro from where she stood. Not that she could blame him, it was bloody terrifying.

By now, the mechanical arm was merely a hair's breadth from the girl and it was not looking good. Suddenly an idea popped into her head. A stupid, idiotic idea.

"Throw me" Toru breathed.

"What?" Shiro snapped towards her.

"Dammit man! Throw me!"

That was all the encouragement that Shiro needed as he latched onto her wrists as he activated his Quirk. As Toru was spun around once, twice she could feel Shiro's Quirk envelop her like a warm hug. On the third rotation, Shiro let her fly. And boy did she fly.

Tears were ripped from her eyes as she flew towards the unresponsive blonde. With arm outstretched, Toru all but tackled Tamaki from the air then the two were headed straight for the crumpled building adjacent to them.

Somehow Toru was able to flip them around in the air, leaving her to take the brunt of the impact when they landed. When the pair were barely grazing the broken glass panes, they were suddenly yanked backwards towards the ground. It was only once Toru's feet had reached the ground that she realised that it was Shiro who had brought the two gently to the ground.

No sooner had they touched the ground had the bell rung signalling the two minute mark had come and gone. The exam was over, they'd done it.

* * *

_ **ONE WEEK LATER** _

"I'm home!" Toru called, walking into the apartment with her arms laden with a paper bag full of groceries and a pile of letters and circulars in one hand.

"Welcome back, dearie" Grandmother greeted, moving forward to relieve her granddaughter of the groceries she had purchased.

"Got the mail too" Toru shifted through the pile in her hands, pulling out the heavy pensioner letters addressed to her grandparents, before shifting through the rest (mostly bills and circulars) until she reached the letter addressed to her. Flipping it over, she saw the wax seal contained the logo for UA. This was it, this would tell her whether she got in or not.

Seating herself at the kotatsu, Toru tore open the letter and let the contents within fall out onto the table in front of her. Absentmindedly, she noticed that her Grandfather had turned down the TV and had turned to face her. Behind them, her grandmother had stopped all movements within the kitchen. The whole apartment seemed to hold their breath as the hologram disk (which had been within the envelope) lit up, a loud boisterous voice dominating the room.

"BOOYAH! I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!" All Might decreed, his bright yellow pinstriped suit almost as loud as his voice.

"What? Is that All Might?" Her grandfather croaked.

"B-but this is from UA…" Toru trailed off as the projection continued.

"I KNOW IT'S BEEN AWHILE, BUT WITH GREAT POWER COMES A GREAT AMOUNT OF PAPERWORK! AHMM! YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE NEWEST FACULTY MEMBER OF UA!"

"Well, aren't you a lucky duck?" Grandfather ruffled her hair, as she tried to dodge the attack.

"DESPITE PASSING THE WRITTEN EXAM, YOU DID NOT ACQUIRE MANY COMBATANT POINTS, HOWEVER HOW COULD A HERO COURSE REJECT SOMEONE WHO IS COMMITTED TO SAVING OTHERS, NO MATTER THE CONSEQUENCE?" All Might began pacing back and forth with the frame as he continued.

"AFTER ALL, THAT IS WHAT A HERO IS! AND THAT IS WHAT OUR ALMA MATER IS ALL ABOUT! WHICH IS WHY WE HAVE RESCUE POINTS! A PANEL OF JUDGES WATCHES AND THEY AWARD POINTS FOR HEROIC ACTS JUST BEYOND COMBATANT POINTS"

Here, a recording of Toru and Shiro working together to rescue Tamaki, played out through the projection as All Might's voiceover continued to narrate. "HAGAKURE TORU: 45 RESCUE POINTS! URARAKA SHIRO: 35 RESCUE POINTS!" The image switched back to All Might who stood with both of his hands raised in a thumbs-up pose. "YOU BOTH THE EXAM! WELCOME TORU TO UA HIGH!"


	4. Rule #3

_ **Rule #3: Don't believe what you're told. Double check.** _

_ **APRIL** _

"…Thunder, ah/thunder ah/thunder ah/thunder ah/thunder ah/thunder ah/thunder ah/thunder ah/thunder ah/thunder ah…" Toru's grandfather swung around the kitchen waving the egg encrusted spatula as he sung and danced along to the song. The song that crackled from the rickety old boombox was from some western rock 'n roll band from the 80s that both she and her grandfather greatly enjoyed.

"Oh would you turn that racket down?" Her grandmother groused, shuffling passed the happy pair to the kitchen, curlers in her hair. Although both Toru and her grandfather enjoyed the music, her grandmother…not so much. No, she preferred the more traditional music that you usually heard at the shrine.

"Toru, are you all set?" Grandmother asked as Toru hopped towards the door as she tried to put on her shoes.

"Yep" She replied, swaying slightly as she switched to put on the other shoe.

"Are ya sure, brat? Ya didn't just pack that killer stuff?" Grandfather added his own two cents.

"Yeah Gramps" Toru sighed, swinging her school bag over her shoulder and straightened out her new uniform. "And it's _assassination tools_ not _killer stuff"_

Her new uniform consisted of a white blouse with green epaulettes and a blood red necktie, paired with a basil green pleated skirt that fell to mid-thigh and black knee-high socks. Overtop it all sat a grey blazer, embroidered with stripes of matching green dotted here and there. The black tabi shoes she wore, were her own.

"Now, I've gotta go. I don't wanna miss the train" Toru yanked open the door, already cloaked in invisibility and annoyance at her grandparents hovering. She was not a morning person even on a good day and their hovering wasn't exactly helping.

"Toru?" Grandmother spoke up.

"What?" Toru snapped, her annoyance slipping into her tone.

"Have fun at school, dear"

"…Thanks, Grammy. I'll see you later" Toru smiled, heading out the door and up towards the rooftop.

Instead of taking the streets to the train station as she would have normally done, Toru chose to free-run, hoping to make it to the station before the next train came and went. Laden with books for the new school year, Toru felt a grin grow on her face as she flew over the gap between their apartment building and the next.

After the acceptance letter had been sent out, she had also received a list of supplies and her class list. Jumping from Class 3-E during junior high to Class 1-A during high school was definitely a change from what she was used to. From bottom to top, assassination to hero.

Times sure were changing.

* * *

_ **Today, high school at UA begins.** _

Toru grasped tightly onto the straps of her backpack as she stared up at the looming building of UA High with nerves coursing through her. From where she stood down here in the courtyard, the large glass exterior of the main campus seemed to sway against the blue sky; mirroring her emotions. This was no mountaintop classroom.

_ **The acceptance rate that year was just as small as it had always been: one in every three hundred.** _

Traipsing through the long winding corridors and hallways, Toru eventually found the right classroom (after getting turned around and pointed in the right direction). With cheeks still tinted red (not that anyone else knew that), Toru stared up at the large door towering over her.

_ **Four people got in through recommendations, thirty-six in through the regular exams.** _

_Just what kind of people even attended UA? Who would need a door so big?_ Toru wondered staring up at the large door that stood before her. The door ran from floor to ceiling and was imprinted with the large red letters of the class' number, 1-A.

_ **We were split into classes of around twenty students each, more or less.** _

With her hand on the tiny doorknob, Toru heaved a sigh and made to open the door, only for a shout from a familiar voice sounding off to her left. "Hey! Hagakure!" Shiro waved, jogging over to the small brunette.

"Oh! Hi, Uraraka! It's good to see you!" Toru smiled, taking her hand off of the doorknob as she turned to face the advancing brunette.

"Ah, just call me Shiro, it'll be too confusing when my sister rocks up too" Shiro replied, rubbing the back of his neck as he smiled.

"Okay Shiro, then call me Toru!"

"Cool! Well, it looks like we're in the same class this year. That'll be fun!"

"Yeah! Wait! Did you say you had a sister?"

"Yeah, she stopped to get breakfast, so she'll be a little late. Do you wanna head in and find a seat?"

"Sure" This time, the conversation between the pair seemed to flow more easily now that nerves weren't getting in the way.

However as soon as the door slid open, the quiet of the hallway was soon shattered by the loud commotion emanating from the classroom. It seemed that the outspoken candidate from the exams was in their class and he appeared to be a stickler for the rules, if his current…'conversation' was anything to go by.

"…the consumption of food within the classroom is strictly forbidden!" Decreed the ravenette.

"Hmm?" Hummed the nonchalant blonde that Toru recognised as Lee Tamaki, the teleporter from the exams.

"It's the first day and you're already disrespecting the academy by dirtying the school property!"

"Seriously? What crawled up your ass and died?"

"…!" The ravenette looked very much like he wanted to shout and scream at the girl, but superior habits overrode him from doing so. Still that didn't stop him from huffing a sigh through clenched teeth as he continued, "Let's try this again, my name is Iida Tenya from the Soumei Academy"

"Soumei huh? Well, that explains _a lot"_

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Before Tamaki could reply any further, Shiro stepped into the classroom and in turn, the conversation. "Gettin' into trouble a little early today, aren't 'cha Tamaki?" Smirked Shiro as he made his way over to a spare seat nearby with Toru not far behind.

"Well, y'know me, I aim to please" Tamaki grinned back, rolling her head around to look over at her longtime friend and new classmate, in doing so, ignoring the spluttering boy standing over her, "And you must be Hagakure! I understand I have you to thank for that save in the exams"

"Uh, well, y'know it was more of a team effort" Toru mumbled, rubbing her nape in embarrassment as she sat in the empty seat behind Tamaki.

"Not the way I hear it, Shiro says you got 'im to throw you like a softball. That musta been fun" Tamaki grinned as she turned in her chair to talk to the invisible girl.

"Uh, I guess…"

"Oh! I'm Lee Tamaki, by the way, from Yakima Junior High"

"Oh, uh, I'm Hagakure Toru, from Kunugigaoka Junior High"

"Kunugigaoka, huh? That's the one that's been in the news right?" Interjected Shiro.

"Uh, yeah" Mumbled Toru.

"Wasn't it shut down?" Tamaki added.

"Uh, yeah, they didn't tell us much about why though" Toru lied through her teeth, so glad that she was invisible.

"I heard it was something about questionable ethics on the principal's part" Said Shiro.

"Uh…yeah, something like that…"

"You don't talk much, do you?" Tamaki suddenly piped up.

"Uh…"

"That's okay, I like ya! You're kinda like a cat, don'tcha think, Shiro?" Tamaki turned to Shiro who sat to the right of her.

"A cat? Why a cat?" Shiro asked.

"I dunno, maybe it's the way she moves, real quiet like, y'know? Like that pink cat from the western fairytale; y'know the one with the rabbit and the red queen?"

"The Wonderland one?"

"Yeah! That one! Not that that's a bad thing, o' course"

"Uh thanks?" Replied Toru, a little unsure as to how easily the conversation had changed from introductions to gratitude to her likeness to a fantastical cat.

"Anyway, if you're here then where's Yuna?" Shiro asked, turning in his seat to face the two girls across from him.

"Hm? Oh, she's in the General Studies course" Tamaki replied.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she just missed the cut-off for the Hero course. Apparently, it was only due to all the positions being filled in this course that she ended up in that one"

"Ooh"

"Yeah, she's still a bit pissy about that, 'specially since I got in"

"But don't the General Studies students still take some of the Hero classes?" Toru interjected, "So it's not like she'll miss out on everything"

"Yeah, I guess. But that doesn't really soften the blow" Tamaki sighed. By this point several other students had filed into the classroom and had taken up the other seats that lined the room.

Glancing around, Toru noticed that most of her new classmates appeared to have either Mutation or Emitter-type Quirks. Like the blonde with the large tail who sat by the door or the pink girl who appeared almost alien-like. Then there was the blonde who looked like he had been electrocuted or something and the boy at the back of the room who looked like he had been dip-dyed in red and white with a permanent deadpan on his face.

She also recognised a few faces as well, like the dark-haired boy off to the side who she remembered had fired tape from his elbows; and the tall girl with the large mop of dark hair piled atop her head that sat behind her and held herself like a lady.

Her musings (plus all other conversations) were soon cut off by Iida's remark (from where he had moved onto to berate the next blonde in the row) as the large door to the classroom slid open. "It's him" As one, everyone turned to look at the short green-haired male who stood clutching to the yellow straps of his backpack.

"Uh…hi!" Panicked the boy, staring off into space so he didn't have to look at all the pairs of eyes staring at him. Toru knew that feeling well.

"Good morning!" Called Iida as he marched over to the door, "My name is Iida Tenya…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know…Uh, I'm Midoriya Izuku, it's super nice to meet you" Midoriya smiled.

"Midoriya, you realised that there was something more to the practical exam, didn't you? You must be very preceptive, I completely misjudged you. I admit, that as a student, you are far superior to me"

Toru had to hide a grin behind her hand (not that it was necessary) as she watched the scene play out. It seemed that that comment seemed to physically pain Iida to admit. The expression on Midoriya's face just made it all the better.

"Hey! I recognise that messy hair!" Chirped a feminine voice as the person drew closer. Next to her, Shiro let his head fall onto his desk with a groan at the arrival of the girl.

"Do you know her, Shiro?" Toru asked the brunette.

"Yeah" He pulled his head up just enough to rest his chin on his folded arms, "That's Ochako, my older sister"

"Older? Really?"

"Yeah, that's not the first time he's heard that" Tamaki smirked.

"I can see why" Toru tilted her head slightly as her gaze moved from the happy brunette in the doorway to the lump on the ground behind her.

"Huh? What is it?" Tamaki shivered when she felt Toru's breath down the back of her neck.

"Is it just me, or is there a big caterpillar on the floor out there?" Toru asked, trying to get a better look from her seat,

"Huh?" Tamaki rose from her seat a little to try and see around the pair in the doorway.

"How did we miss _that?"_ Shiro muttered spotting the creature in question. Although he received no verbal replies from the girls, he would soon be answered by the creature himself.

"…What do ya think we're doing today besides orientation?" Ochako rambled, "I wonder what our teachers are like! I can't wait to meet everyone!"

"If you're just here to make friends, then you can pack up your stuff now" Interjected the caterpillar from the floor, much to everyone's surprise.

"Oh my God! It talks!" Tamaki gushed.

"Welcome to UA's Hero course" The zipper on the yellow sleeping bag came down just enough for a juice box to emerge, "It took exactly eight-seconds before you all shut up, that's not gonna cut it. Time it precious, rational students would understand that"

_Just who is this guy?_ Toru thought as she studied the man before her. He was rather tall, but slouched like he was perpetually tired and the dark baggy clothes and dirty white scarf he wore, further pushed the idea of a lazy or tired man.

_If he's here, then he's gotta be some kind of pro; but he looks so…dead. What's his deal?_ Her gaze roved over his tired expression frame by the mop of dark stringy hair, _Maybe he's like Bitch-Sensei? Dress to impress? Or…unimpress in this case._

"Hello, I'm Aizawa Shota, your teacher" Drawled Aizawa. The entire class seemed to blanch at that introduction, "Right, let's get to it. Put on your PE uniform and head outside" The uniform in question was one they had received prior to their first day; along with the rest of their uniform.

It consisted of a matching blue, white and red patterned tracksuit. The white pattern on the tracksuit appeared to mimic the initials of UA across the front of the tracksuit shirt and pants, and small accents of red were dotted here and there. All in all, it wasn't the worst PE uniform out there.

* * *

Once dressed in the new PE uniform, 1-A gathered outside on the field for a Quirk assessment test, much to their collective surprise. "But orientation…we're gonna miss it" Ochako complained.

"If you really wanna make the big leagues, you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies. Here at UA, we're not tethered to traditions, that means I get to run my class however I see fit" Aizawa-Sensei replied.

"You've been taking standardised tests for most of your lives, but you never got to use your Quirks in physical exams before" Aizawa-Sensei turned to face the class with a list of tests that we was going to put them through. "The country's still trying to pretend that we're all created equal, by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational and one day the ministry of education will learn"

_Oh my God! He's just like Koro-Sensei! _Toru grinned.

"Bakugo, you managed to get the most points in the entrance exam" Aizawa-Sensei turned to the angry-looking blonde in front, "What was the farthest distance through with the softball when you were in junior high?"

"67m, I think" Bakugo replied.

"Try doing it with your Quirk" Bakugo moved to stand in one of the shot-put ranges "Anything goes, just stay in the circle. Go on, you're wasting our time"

"Alright man, you asked for it" Replied Bakugo, stretching out his arms before taking a stance and -quite literally-fired off the electronic softball off into the air. Toru could only stare on, open-mouthed at the plumes of smoke drifting lazily through the air in the wake of softball.

"All of you need to know your limits. It's the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a pro-hero" Aizawa continued, turning to show the rest of the class Bakugo's score of 705.2m.

"Woah 705m! Are you kidding me?"

"I wanna go! That's looks like fun!"

"This is what I'm talking about! Using our Quirks as much as we want!"

"So this looks fun, huh?" Aizawa-Sensei soon cut through the exclamations of the class, "You have three years here to become a hero. You think it's all gonna be games and playtime? Idiots. Today you'll compete in several physical tests to gage your potential; whomever comes in last has none and will be expelled immediately"

_Nope! Definitely not like Koro-Sensei!_

* * *

The tests soon began in earnest, the class having been split up into groups and rotating through the different tests already set up. There was the 50m dash that Toru felt she did okay in; (having been training against a teacher that went at mach 20 for a year, would do that to ya).

She had raced against Tamaki who had used her Quirk to teleport in short bursts down the track. In turn, Toru had switched to the balls of her feet as she ran; pushing enough solar light to her feet to use as small boosters but still keeping her footsteps light and fleet.

After the 50m dash, there was the grip strength test where they were given a tool that measured how strong they were. Toru's results were less than satisfying, but she had always known that pure strength was never her strong suit.

The third-seventh tests (long jump, repeated side-steps, sit-ups, seated toe-touch & long-distance running respectively), were once again, more of a test of skill than of her Quirk. At least in Toru's case; but it was always going to hard to measure a Quirk that wasn't based on pure power or raw strength.

The final test was the ball throw. _This is it, my last chance_. Toru thought as she stepped up to the plate after receiving quiet well wishes from both Tamaki and Shiro as she went. Rolling the softball around in her sweaty hands, Toru quickly ran through what she could do to boost her score.

Only one thing really came time to mind. Taking a deep breath, Toru allowed the solar lights to build up in her forearms, growing from a soft dull glow to a shiny light that was almost blinding, even through her skin.

With a quick glance over at Aizawa-Sensei (who gave a bored nod), Toru took her stance and fired off the softball with a grunt. The concentrated beam of light that shot out from her palm rocketed the ball up into the air much like Bakugo's had done; only the ball only got about 300m before the beam became too much and split the ball clean in two.

Toru could only watch sheepishly as the two halves fell to the ground like rubbery leaves not far from where she stood. It was a good thing there were spares.

"Oops"

When the tests were finally complete, the group of tired sweaty teenagers regathered back out on the field to receive their results. "Alright, time to give you your results. I've ranked you all from best to worst. You probably have a good idea of where you're standing already, so I'll just pull up the whole list instead of going over everyone's individual score" Said Aizawa-Sensei, pressing a button and revealing the holographic list.

_The last ranked person is gonna be expelled!_ Toru worriedly bit her lower lip, _And the only tests I was good in were the 50m dash and the softball throw! Can I scrape by on those scores alone?_ Fiddling with her hands, Toru let her gaze rove over the names listed in front of her until she found her own.

_1) Yaoyorozu Momo 2) Todoroki Shoto_

_3) Bakugo Katskui 4) Iida Tenya_

_5) Tokoyami Fumikage 6) Shoji Mezo_

_7) Ojiro Mashirao 8) Uraraka Shiro_

_9) Kirishima Eijiro 10) Ashido Mina_

_11) Uraraka Ochako 12) Lee Tamaki_

_13) Koda Koji 14) Sato Rikido_

_15) Asui Tsuyu 16) Aoyami Yuga_

_17) Sero Hanta 18) Kaminari Denki_

_19) Jiro Kyoka 20) Hagakure Toru_

_21) Mineta Minoru 22) Midoriya Izuku_

Aizawa-Sensei let the class antagonise or crow over their individual scores before he spoke up again. "…And I was lying, no one's going home. That was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all in the tests" He grinned.

_What?_ Toru gaped.

"I'm surprised the rest of you didn't figure that out" Commented Yaoyorozu,"I'm sorry, I guess I probably should have said something"

_No shit, Sherlock._ Toru groused.

"That's it, we're done for the day. Pick up a syllabus from the classroom and read it over before tomorrow morning" Aizawa-Sensei dismissed.

_I made it! Through the first day at least!_ Toru cheered, _But there's so much more I need to improve on! I guess I should be used to the being at the bottom by now, but still…_ She followed her classmates back to the locker rooms to change, _I guess there's nowhere else to go from here but up! I can do this!_


	5. Rule # 15

** _Rule #15: Always work as a team_ **

_ **UA's Hero course Curriculum: There are normal core classes like English which meet in the mornings.** _

Toru deftly twirled her mechanical pencil between her fingers, bored out of her mind as she stared at the blackboard where Present Mic had written four grammatical sentences in English for them to study.

She wasn't the only one. To her left, Shiro was more preoccupied with floating pieces of stationary around a crumpled up piece of paper like an odd little solar system. Whilst to her right, Tamaki was doodling in the borders of her notebook as she not-so-subtly chewed on some obnoxiously pink bubblegum.

"…Now which of these four sentences contains a mistake?" Mic-Sensei asked, turning to the sleepy class "HEY EVERYBODY! LOOK ALIVE! GRAMMAR RULES!" Next to her, Tamaki popped her bubblegum.

_ **Next is lunch, which is eaten in the main cafeteria where we can buy pretty tasty stuff on a budget.** _

Class 1-A had pretty much stayed together in small clumps around the cafeteria as they ate, only splitting up into the tentative friends group that had started to form. Toru quietly ate her ramen as she sat next to Shiro and Tamaki who seemed to talk about everything and nothing all at once.

Across from them, Tokoyami, Ojiro and Todoroki sat quietly eating their own lunches, occasionally reacting to something that was said or adding a comment of their own. At some point, the Cook Hero: Lunch Rush, came over to see how they were enjoying their food before moving onto another table.

_ **And then in the afternoon, it's finally time for basic Hero training.** _

The last couple of periods of the day were dedicated to basic Hero training, at least they were supposed to be, but the class had been waiting for their next teacher to arrive for some time now. So much so, that Toru was starting to regret not pulling out the book she had been reading on the train that morning.

Eventually, their teacher did arrive in a rather dramatic fashion, no less. "I AM HERE!" Declared All Might, his voice reaching them before he slammed open the classroom door, "COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A HERO!"

Even with his loud voice, his equally loud costume made it hard for him to be missed. Unlike the acceptance letter, All Might was decked out in one of his older hero costumes; it was red, white and blue patterned, with hints of yellow around the waist, boots and wrists that tied the whole outfit together. A loud costume for a loud man.

"Whoa!"

"I can't believe it's really All Might!"

"So he _is_ a teacher! This year's gonna be totally awesome!"

"Hey! Look! Is he wearing his silver age costume?"

"I'm getting goosebumps, it's so retro!"

The class gushed in awe as they watched All Might march up to the podium with arms swinging. "WELCOME TO THE MOST IMPORTANT CLASS AT UA HIGH! THINK OF IT AS HEROING 101!" All Might introduced, easily towering over the wooden podium at the front of the room, "HERE, YOU'LL LEARN THE BASICS OF BEING A PRO AND WHAT IT MEANS TO FIGHT IN THE NAME OF GOOD! SO LET'S GET INTO IT! TODAY'S LESSON WILL PULL NO PUNCHES!"

_A battle royale?_ Toru mused as All Might introduced what they were going to be doing for that lesson. _Or maybe just combat training?_ "BUT ONE OF THE KEYS TO BEING A HERO IS LOOKING GOOD!" All Might swung around to the left-hand wall where several shelves of numbered compartments slid out. Enough for one each.

"THESE WERE DESIGNED FOR YOU BASED ON THE QUIRK REGISTRATION FORMS AND THE CLOTHING REQUEST YOU SENT IN BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED!"

_Our costumes! Finally! _Toru cheered as she tried to unblock her ear. _Good God! Is loud the only setting All Might has?_

"GET YOURSELF SUITED UP AND MEET ME AT TRAINING GROUND BETA!" All Might instructed.

"Yes sir!" Chorused 1-A.

* * *

"Oh wow! Our costumes are finally here!" Tamaki fangirled next to her as she looked down at the gear laid out before her "It's finally real!"

"It'll be even more real when you put it on" Toru grinned as she shed her school uniform in exchange for her own costume.

"I know!" Tamaki squealed, doing an odd little dance before she began to change.

_ **The clothing allowance: before we enrolled at UA High, we submitted our Quirk registration forms amongst other things.** _

In the locker room around them, the other girls in their class were also garbed in varying stages of dress. Each and every costume ranging from the everyday wear, like leather jackets & jeans to the extreme like skin-tight suits and hefty headgear. And all of them ranged in every colour and pattern that you could ever think of.

_ **This included any physical measurements and desired costumes designs to an exclusive clothing company designated by the school.** _

For Toru, her costume was rather simple compared to some of the others, but then all at once, so much more complicated. The black tabi shoes, black steampunk goggles and sky blue gloves she wore were the only things on her costume which her visible to the naked eye.

"Oh that's so cool!" Tamaki turned to Toru when she saw the white and yellow patterned suit disappear as soon as it assimilated to Toru's Quirk when the brunette put it on.

_ **With all that info, they created state-of-the-art costumes for each and every one of us.** _

The main body of the suit was made up of a lycra-type material that had the ability to completely disappear just like Toru did. It was because of this alone, that she knew just how precious this costume was. The disappearing material alone was one of the most expensive things she had ever laid her hands on.

Thankfully the suit clung to her form like a second skin and covered more than just what a bikini would, like her one at home. Unlike her older inviso-suit, this one covered the majority of her chest much like a sports bra with a halter and the lower portion of the suit fit her figure in a pair of high-waisted shorts that fell to mid-thigh. All in all, it fit pretty good.

"Thanks! You too!" Toru replied looking over her friend who grinned in return. Tamaki had gone for the more normal approach to her costume; she wore a black skater dress that fell to mid-thigh with black & red striped stockings underneath, plus a pair of blood red boots and a matching red cropped leather jacket. The whole outfit was topped off with a black domino mask and cuff bands around her wrists.

All in all, it looked like she could have passed for an everyday kid, like she was going to the mall or something. But there was this air about her that made you just a little bit wary, like she could kick your ass at the drop of a hat.

"C'me on! Let's go join the others!" Tamaki linked her arm through Toru's and pulled her towards the training ground.

"Okay!"

* * *

"THEY SAY THE CLOTHES MAKE THE PROS, YOUNG LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! AND BEHOLD! YOU ARE THE PROOF! TAKE THIS TO HEART! FROM NOW ON YOU ARE ALL HEROES IN TRAINING!" Said All Might as 1-A emerged from the locker rooms, blinking rapidly at the sudden change in brightness.

Toru couldn't help but grin as she looked around at her classmates, they all looked like they had stepped straight out of a comic book! Bright colours popped against dark ones and the angular edges of some of the accessories created new silhouettes whilst skin-tights suits revealed others.

"Nice shirt, you pick that out yourself?" Tamaki teased as she pulled Toru over to where Shiro was standing.

"Oh ha ha!" Shiro embarrassedly crossed his arms over his bare chest, the open black and purpled vest hiding very little. "I think I got the measurements wrong for the shirt, cause it fits weird so I went without"

"Ah well, what'cha gonna do? At least it's not the worst one out there" Tamaki replied as Toru looked over Shiro's costume.

His costume consisted of the open black vest trimmed with mauve around the edges and a matching pair of black capri pants that ended around his calves. Atop his head sat a pair of pilot goggles and on his feet he wore a pair of wooden geta. Tamaki was right, it really wasn't the worst one out there.

"THIS IS GETTING ME ALL RAMPED UP! YOU ALL LOOK SO COOL! NOW SHALL WE BEGIN, YOU BUNCH OF NEWBIES?" All Might called, as the last of the stragglers arrived and cutting through any lingering conversations in an attempt to garner everyone's attention.

"NOW THAT YOU'RE READY, IT'S TIME FOR COMBAT TRAINING!" Said All Might.

"Sir!" Interrupted Iidya from underneath the tall robotic suit at the front of the class, "This is the fake city from our entrance exam. Does that mean we'll be conducting urban battles again?"

"NOT QUITE, I'M GONNA MOVE YOU TWO STEPS AHEAD! MOST OF THE VILLAIN FIGHTS YOU SEE ON THE NEWS TAKE PLACE OUTSIDE. HOWEVER, STATISTICALLY SPEAKING, RUN-INS WITH THE MOST DASTARDLY EVIL-DOERS TAKE PLACE INDOORS"

_That makes sense, I suppose._ Toru mused, biting her lip in thought, _I mean, you'd would get more vantage points and places to hide if you were inside and familiar with the layout of said building._

"THINK ABOUT IT: BACKROOM DEALS, HOME INVASIONS, SECRET UNDERGROUND LAYERS. TRUELY INTELLIGENT VILLAINS STAY HIDDEN IN THE SHADOWS. IN THIS EXERCISE, YOU'LL BE SPLIT INTO HEROES AND VILLAINS TO FIGHT TWO-ON-TWO INDOOR BATTLES!" Continued All Might.

"Isn't this a little advanced?" Asui asked.

"THE BEST TRAINING IS WHAT YOU GET ON THE BATTLEFIELD! BUT REMEMBER YOU CAN'T JUST PUNCH A ROBOT THIS TIME! YOU'RE DEALING WITH _ACTUAL_ PEOPLE NOW!"

At that, more questions were fired in rapid succession towards All Might.

"Sir, will you be deciding who wins?"

"How much can we hurt the other team?"

"Do we need to worry about the losers getting expelled, like earlier?"

"Will you be splitting us up by chance or comparative skill?"

"Isn't this cape just trés chic?"

"Listen up! The situation is this: the villain have hidden a nuclear weapon somewhere in their hideout and the heroes must foil their plans. To do that, the heroes must either catch the villains or recover the weapon. Likewise, the villains win if they capture the heroes or protect their payload!"

_Huh, maybe All Might does have more than one level of sound._ Toru smiled.

"Sounds like a typical action movie or video game set-up" Shiro murmured.

"Mm" Toru agreed.

"Time is limited and we'll choose out teams by drawing lots!" All Might presented a bright yellow box to the class.

"Isn't there a better way?" Iida asked.

"Think about it: Pros often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot, so maybe that's the reason we're seeing it here?" Midoriya suggested.

"Yes, I see, life is a random series of events. Excuse my rudeness" Iida apologised.

"No sweat! Let's draw!"

After the class had reshuffled themselves to stand next to their partners-Toru having been paired up with Oijiro Mashirao (the blonde with the kangaroo-like tail)-the class waited with bated breath as All Might drew forth a lettered ball from two more boxes to determine who would play the villain and who would play the hero in the exercise.

"I declare that the first teams to fight will be: Team D as the villains and Team A as the heroes! Everyone else can head to the monitoring room to watch!"

"Yes sir!" Chorused the rest of the class as they left behind the specified teams in the arena.

* * *

The rest of the class watched from the monitor room as Team D set up their 'lair' within the building whilst Team A set about plotting their plan of attack. When their five minutes were up, All Might's voice echoed out through the intercom. "ALL RIGHT! LET'S BEGIN THE INDOOR COMBAT TRAINING! TEAM A AND TEAM D, YOUR TIME STARTS NOW!"

_ **CLICK!** _

Pulling away from the intercom, All Might stared forward at the windows on the screen that displayed the main hallways within the chosen building. "Pay attention kids, think about what you would do!" Toru could only watch on as Midoriya and Ochako used her Quirk to enter through a second story window on the building. The pair almost seemed to wander through the winding hallways of the building without rhyme or reason, occasionally pausing to check around the sharp corners.

That was until Bakugo made his appearance. Taking a note out of All Might's book, the blonde burst out from around the corner in a ball of fury and fire, aiming a strike straight for Midoriya's head. Next to her, Shiro sucked in a breath as he watched Midoriya push himself and Ochako out of the way just in the nick of time, leaving a cloud of smoke in their wake as Bakugo made impact with the wall instead.

When the smoke cleared, Toru was able to see that the only damage had been done to Midoriya's mask, melting more than half of it clean off of his face. In the same moment, Bakugo emerged from the dissipating smoke looking very much the part of an enraged villain.

"He almost got the jump on him!" Exclaimed Mineta.

"Sneak attack, Bakugo! What kind of man pulls cheap crap like that?" Kirishima cried with a punch.

"IT'S A VIABLE STRATEGY. HE'S PLAYING THE PART, ACTING LIKE A TRUE VILLAIN WOULD!" All Might replied.

"It didn't work! Midoriya dodged him!" Added Ashido.

"Look! There he goes!" Kaminari cried as Bakugo charged forward only for Midoriya to meet him head on.

Toru's eyes widen in surprise as she watched Midoriya execute a perfect move, flipping a sparking Bakugo over his shoulder like he was nothing more than a sack of flour. It seemed to take Bakugo a moment or two to regain his bearings, the flip having knocked the breath out of him when he landed on his back. Whatever Midoriya had seemed to declare had set off Bakugo who responded in kind with large explosions sparking in his palms and such a look of crazed mania that it kinda reminded Toru of Terasaka Ryōma, one of her old classmates.

Over on a seperate window, Toru watched as Idia had a bit of a freak out next to the 'weapon' as Bakugo seemingly hung up on him. "Hey, whose Bakugo talking to?" Kirishima asked, watching the window where his classmate filled the screen, "I'm not hearing anything. Can we get any sound with this video?"

"He's got a radio in his ear so that he can talk to his partner!" Replied All Might, gesturing to the same one in his own ear, "I gave it to them before the match started along with a map of the building. Also this: a roll of capture tape. Wrapping them around your opponent means you've captured them and their out for the rest of the game"

"So there's a 15 minute time limit, and the heroes have no idea what level the weapon is hidden on, right?" Mina asked.

"Correct!" Replied All Might.

"Then the heroes are clearly at a disadvantage here, a big one"

"Real Pros have to outwit villains on a daily basis, that's life. Even when the odds aren't in our favour, we fight"

"Ah!"

"All together, let's hear a…"

"PLUS ULTRA!" the class cheered.

"Monsieur, he's on the move!" Aoyama piped up, his gaze still on the screen.

"Hm?"

Turning back to the large screen, the class watched as Ochako ran from the scene, making her way further into the building, but not without sending a worried glance over her shoulder at Midoriya who stayed behind. In turn, Midoriya met Bakugo's next attack head on once more; this time using the capture tape to wrap around the blonde's ankle before dodging out of the way of another explosive punch.

"That little guy's really good!"

"He's holding his own and he hasn't even used his Quirk yet!"

This time as Bakugo prepared himself to attack again, Midoriya took off down the hall, choosing instead to head in the opposite direction in which Ochako had gone. As if Midoriya planned it (and he probably had), Bakugo followed hot on his heels, only to loose him in the twisting hallways.

"That guy has some real anger issues, it's kinda scary" Tamaki shifted next to her.

"Mm" Agreed Toru as she watched Bakugo storm around the building blasting doors off of their hinges as he searched for Midoriya.

On a seperate screen, the boy in question sat hunched against a wall as he caught his breath and thought over what to do next. On the third screen, Iida stood impatiently waiting next to the 'weapon' as a fourth screen showed Ochako pressing in closer to the 'lair'. With the time ticking down to the single digits, Ochako finally discovered the room where the 'weapon' and Iida was being stored. Ochako had just enough time to tell Midoriya where she was before Bakugo found Midoriya.

Toru let a quiet gasp escape from her lips when she saw what Bakugo planned to do. Whilst Midoriya pulled the capture tape taut between his hands, Bakugo moved to pull the pin on the large grenades encircling his wrists.

"What? What is it?" Tamaki asked, turning to the brunette.

"He's gonna kill 'im!" Toru breathed.

"What?"

"Think about it: if those gauntlets aren't just for show, then Bakugo must've been using them to store residual amounts of power as he went. And if you compare how powerful his usual attacks are, to what he could do with that much power…"

"But a blast that size would be devastating!"

"He must know that, surely?" Oijiro piped up, their conversation having carried throughout the quiet room.

"But what if he doesn't care?" Toru turned to the blonde "What if whatever ridiculous beef he has with Midoriya overpowers that?"

Toru didn't receive a reply from either of her classmates; instead it was All Might who shouted through the intercom for Bakugo to rethink his plan of action. "YOUNG BAKUGO! DON'T DO IT! YOU'LL KILL HIM!"

"Holy shit" Shiro breathed as they watched Bakugo pull the pin on one of his gauntlets anyway and release a blast so large that it shook the entire building (including the monitoring room), put a gaping hole in the exterior wall several meters behind them and pushed Midoriya back so far he nearly flew out of the new hole.

"Ah!"

"Woah! This is nuts!"

"He's insane!"

"COME IN! COME IN MIDORIYA!"

"Sis?" Shiro whispered once he regained his balance. While the others tried to pull themselves together, a second window on the screen showed how Ochako took the opportunity to charge straight for the 'weapon' much to Iida's surprise. Using her Quirk on herself, Ochako leapt straight over Iida's head and flew right for the prize. Well, she would have had Iida not used his own Quirk and ran away with the item in hand.

Back to the other screens, the watchers saw that somehow Midoriya had miraculously survived the blast. He seemed to have only received a few burns here and there, plus he lost more patches of his costume, but otherwise he appeared relatively okay.

Bakugo on the other hand, wore an expression of pure mania as he stood over Midoriya. It was clear that he was way past playing the villain and was using the exercise as a means to torture Midoriya with whatever beef he had with him.

"Sir, isn't this getting out of hand?" Kirishima asked, "That Bakugo is acting real crazy, he's gonna kill 'im!"

"Not so" All Might replied calmly, not explaining any further much to the frustration of the red head. Tuning into the intercom, All Might spoke again "Bakugo, used up that stored up power again and I'll stop this fight. Your team will lose; to employ such a strong attack indoors is inviting the destruction of the stronghold you should be protecting! That's a poor strategy! Whether you're a hero or a villain! The penalty would be a massive loss of points"

_Not to mention all those lives._ Toru thought dryly as she watched Midoriya finish talking to Ochako through the earpiece just in time for him to catch Bakugo blasting straight for him. Instead of taking Midoriya head-on like he had previously, Bakugo switched his position mid-air and attacked Midoriya from the back. This time, Toru's eyes lit up his actions reminded her of Shiota Nagisa and his pertinence for attacking from behind.

"Huh?"

"Wha?"

"What was that move?"

"He doesn't come off as a guy with a strategy, but he's actually quite intelligent" Todoroki analysed.

"What are ya talking about?" Kirishima asked.

"He changed his trajectory in mid-air by using a blast that doubled as a smoke-screen. Very clever"

"An attack like that requires an extreme amount of precision" Toru mused aloud.

"He had to calculate the physics and demonstrate control over his Quirk" Added Yaoyorozu.

"Ugh, Bakugo is uber talented" Kaminari complained, "I hate it!"

"This is hard to watch!" Cried Mina, "All he has to do is wrap tape around him, not kill him!" She wasn't wrong though, despite the upper hand that Midoriya seemed to have had, was long gone by now and Bakugo was throwing him around the room like a ragdoll.

"Bakugo is certainly acting like a villain" Tokoyami commented.

"I thought Midoriya was pretty amazing at the start of the fight, but he's completely outmatched in there terms of combat power. Not to mention Bakugo seems like a natural at all this stuff" Added Kaminari.

"Hmm" Toru hummed, watching the two on the screen.

"What?" Oijro asked, still glued to the screen.

"It's just…they both seemed to have forgotten about the capture tape"

"Oh yeah…but how else are they gonna end this? I mean besides beating the shit outta each other"

"Well, Bakugo seems to be of the frame of mind that beating the shit of Midoriya is the best way to go about it and Midoriya keeps taking it" Toru's mind began to race as she analysed the fighters on screen.

"So?"

"So, if Midoriya can get up and get a good hit in, he could end it all"

"But Bakugo's got more control over his own Quirk, and maybe about the some amount of power. Plus that ruthlessness…"

"But that's just it!" She was getting excited now, "Midoriya's hit doesn't need to be powerful, it just needs to be well-aimed and well-timed"

"…And then game over!"

"At least until one of them can get to the 'weapon"

"He's running away!" Mina cried.

"Not very manly but he doesn't have a choice. He's outgunned" Said Kirishima as the class watched Midoriya practically crawl to the other side of the room where he put a wall of windows to his back.

"Unless he's got some kind of plan, which is possible" Added Shiro as Bakugo stalked forward towards Midoriya.

With hands clenched and Quirks activated, the two boys charged at each other, both filled to the brim with passion of a different kind. One that spoke of prideful egos and natural talent and another that spoke hard-work and dreams.

"THEY'RE GONNA KILL EACH OTHER!"  
"SIR!"  
"BOTH OF YOU STOP!" All Might ordered, only to be ignored. Midoriya shouted something to Ochako through the earpiece (as seen through her hugging the large concrete pillar next to her in a seperate window on the screen) just as he switched angles and shoved his Quirk-powered punch up towards the ceiling.

Toru stared unabashedly and open-mouthed at the screen. The aftershock from the attack was intense, so much so that a large gaping hole emerged in not only the floor above the two boys, but all the way up to the top.

Ochako who had been hugging a nearby pillar, was thrust into the air. But with the use of her Quirk, she was able to lift the pillar like a bat and send the debris flying straight towards Iida like a thousand softballs.

From the corner of her eye, Toru saw that Shiro was wearing a grin so wide it seemed to almost split his face. Back on the screen, Ochako took advantage of Iida's moment of distraction and sent herself flying towards the 'weapon' once more. This time she got it.

Everyone watched on with a mismatched expressions of shock and awe; both those within the arena and those within the monitoring room. They had done it, despite all odds the heroes had won. And so it was that Midoriya collapsed to the ground, cradling his broken arm to his chest as a shocked Bakugo stood over him.


	6. Rule #33

_ **Rule #33: Underhanded tricks are far from necessary when confronting an opponent. Rather, what you need is superbly precise skill and speed.** _

"Your indoor combat training is over, the hero team...WINS!" All Might decreed over the intercom. Not that there was much celebrating going on. Those within the monitoring room still stood frozen in varying stages of shock and awe whilst those out on the field were still trying to collect themselves.

"What a weird way for this to end, the losers are practically untouched and the winners are both on the ground" Kaminari said, his gaze switching from a live and well Bakugo & Iida to an injured and sick Ochako and Midoriya.

"How does the old saying go? They may have lost the battle, but they won the war" Tokoyami replied.

"This class is intense, ribbit" Asui added.

* * *

With Midoriya shipped off to the nurse courtesy of the two medical bots that he was becoming well acquainted with, the rest of the combatants were rounded up and returned to the monitor room for their battle review.

"...Well, despite these results the MVP of this exercise is young Iidya" Said All Might.

"Huh?" Iida exclaimed.

"Shouldn't it be someone from the Hero team, since they're the winners, ribbit?" Asui asked.

"Hm, valid question, why didn't I choose one of those two?" Replied All Might, "Who has a guess?"

"Sir! I can tell you why" Yaoyorozu raised her hand, "Iida embraced this challenge, he was the only one who truly adapted to his assigned role. I'll explain, Bakugo's judgement was clouded by a personal grudge against Midoriya; as pointed out earlier by launching a full-scale attack indoors was a foolish move and it could have been disastrous.

Similarly, Midoriya's plan was also poorly planned out considering how much damage he received. He rendered himself helpless, which wasn't smart and as for Uraraka? She let her guard down mid-battle and her final attack was far too reckless given the hypothetical stakes. If she had treated the fake weapon as though it was real, she never would have used such an imprecise move.

Iida was fully prepared for his opponent's arrival. He had a strategy and never lost sight of his mission to protect the dummy weapon, even if he was foiled in the end. Technically the hero team won, yes, but they took advantage of the fact this was training and didn't respect the spirit of the trial"

_Oh, you are so a teacher's pet!_ Toru groused, crossing her arms as All Might stumbled for something else to say. "Yes...well, you overlooked a few things...Young Iida could have relaxed a little bit in the exercise, but otherwise you nailed it!"

"One should always start with the basics and devote themselves wholeheartedly to learning! That's the only real way to become a top hero" Yaoyorozu replied.

"Now then, let's move onto the next match! Think about everything we saw and discussed as you tackle this training for yourself" All Might instructed.

"Yessir!" Chorused 1-A.

* * *

The next building chosen for the second match appeared to be an old office building that sat just a block over from where the first match had taken place. This was the playground for Team I (Toru & Oijiro) and Team B's (Todoroki & Shoji) battle.

"Match 2: Team B will be our heroes and Team I will be the villains" All Might's omnipotent voice floated through the earpieces each person wore. While both Todoroki and Shoji patiently waited outside the building, inside Oijiro and Toru were getting ready to put the plans into motion.

With what little information the 'villains' had been able to gather about the 'heroes', a shaky plan was formed. Apparently Shoji had been in the same exam as Oijiro and so he had seen him use his Quirk to scan for information before he pounced. Plus with the Quirk tests they had performed on the first day, the pair knew that despite Shoji's appearance, the boy was rather strong.

On the other hand, Todoroki was one of the few who had gotten in on recommendation and so they had even less to go on for him. However the Quirk tests from the other day revealed that he preferred to use large amounts of ice-driven power with his Quirk (as seen by the ice already covering one half of his body).

Not to mention in the world of heroes, the name 'Todoroki' carried quite some weight with it, so it was only natural to assume that he came from some kind of hero-orientated family. In those regards, both she and Oijiro were outweighed in terms of pure power. However, what they lacked in power they more than made up for in speed and skill. She was sure of it.

"Hey, Oijiro!" Toru turned to the blonde as she began to pull off her gloves, shoes and goggles, "Let's get serious. I'm gonna take off my clothes and totally disappear!"

"Yeah, cool!" Oijiro agreed, blushing slightly at the thought that she was probably standing naked right next to him. If only he knew!

"Uh, here" Toru handed him her goggles after having rolled up her gloves and shoved them in her shoes, before placing them next to the door.

"What are these for?" Oijiro asked, taking the goggles.

"Uh, part of my Quirk is powerful enough to blind someone forever. So I thought, y'know, better safe than sorry..."

"Uh, thanks, but won't you need them?"

"Ah no, I'll be okay. It doesn't affect me as much"

That was all the reassurance Oijiro seemed to need as he pulled the goggles on after lengthening the band enough to fit over his head, "How do I look?" Toru giggled at the image he presented, the sleek white gi lined with bits of fluffy fur around the collar and her pair of black steampunk goggles that made his eyes completely disappear from sight.

Then again it's not like she would have painted a better picture, what with being garbed in only her two piece suit and earpiece. Though it would only be the earpiece and the burner phone she had moved from her shoes to her bra, floating in the air that would be seen by the naked eye.

"Now what? Any ideas?" Oijiro asked, turning to face the floating items in the air.

"Hm" Toru hummed as she looked around the room trying to think of something. Eventually her gaze landed on the speaker system mounted along the back wall behind the dummy weapon, before drifting to the large metallic double doors that led into the room. "Maybe"

"Care to share?"

"You said Shoji prefers to search for information before attacks, right?" Toru replied, pulling over the lone wheelie chair in the room to stand underneath the sound system.

"Yeah..."

"Well, I noticed a similar set-up of speakers on the way in, probably an intercom or PA system" Toru gestured to the system above her as she heaved herself up onto one of the rafters so as to reach the system.

"So if we can get it working..."

"Then we can effectively block out Shoji's Quirk...or part of it anyway" It took a few minutes, but Toru was eventually able to sync her burner phone into the sound system, effectively creating a radio.

"That's great and all, but what about Todoroki? That won't affect him the same" Oijiro questioned as Toru clambered back to the ground.

"Uh...I guess I could weld the door shut so at least he'd have a bit of trouble getting in" Toru mused.

"But then we'd be trapped in here"

"Yeah..."

"...What if I stayed here and you went after Todoroki?"

"Really? Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Yeah! With your invisibility, you'd be able to sneak up on him!"

"I guess that could work..."

_**"LOOK ALIVE KIDS! SHOW YOU'RE THE EMBODIMENT OF GOOD OR EVIL! LET'S GO!"**_ All Might called through the earpieces. Any further plans were cut short by All Might's announcement and the accompanying ring of the timer as it signalled the beginning of their fifteen minutes.

"Right! Let's do this!"

"Good luck!"

* * *

Down at the entrance to the building, Shoji spread his dupli-arms and morphed multiple ears on the tips of his tentacles as he searched for their opponents. There! Two faint heartbeats could be heard. "One's in the hall on the north side of the fourth floor" A mouth formed and spoke to Todoroki who joined him in the hallway, "And I think the other's on the same level somewhere; both are barefoot. I bet the invisible one plans to sneak up and surprise us"

Before either Todoroki could reply or Shoji could report anymore, the sound of the building's intercom crackled to life all around them. "What was that?" Todoroki asked, searching for the noise.

"I think it's the PA system" Shoji replied warily, honing in on where the crackling noise was coming from.

"What good do they think that will be?" No sooner had Todoroki said those words, did the sound of a punchy pop song came blaring out of the speakers at full blast.

_ **Do I have your attention? (Hey!)** _   
_ **Do I have your attention? (Hey!)** _   
_ **Do I have your attention? (Hey!)** _   
_ **Do I have your attention? (Hey!)** _

Shoji, who still had his Quirk activated, fell to the floor with a shout of pain as he clutched to his hyper-sensitive ears as the ones on his tentacles quickly disappeared.

** _Do I have your attention? (Hey!)_ **   
** _Do I have your attention? (Hey!)_ **   
** _Do I have your attention? (Hey!)_ **   
** _Do I have your attention? (Hey!)_ **   
** _Is you taking notes?_ **   
** _Three-Two-Work_ **

Todoroki spun on his heel as he tried to find the source of the noise, clearly it was coming out of the PA system secured within every corner of the building, but that still didn't tell him where the source of the noise was coming from. With any luck, it would be coming from where the 'weapon' was.

_ **We about to go off-off-off** _   
_ **When the speakers go blow-blow-blow** _   
_ **Everybody turn up-up-up** _   
_ **It's about to go down-down-down** _   
_ **Make the whole room spin-spin-spin** _   
_ **Turn the bass up loud-loud-loud** _   
_ **We about to go in-in-in** _   
_ **And we can't stop now-now-now** _

"For your own safety, go outside. I'm sure our opponents intend to fight a defensive battle" Todoroki helped haul the taller boy to his feet before pushing him towards the door behind them. Once he was sure that Shoji was outside, Todoroki headed further inwards with frosty mist gathering around his fingertips.

_ **Fuck it up! Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Do I have your attention?** _

"But we've already won" Todoroki placed his misty hand on the wall beside him and watched in satisfaction as the ice spread out from beneath his fingertips in rapid succession, quickly enveloping the entire building in ice and drowning out the blaring speakers.

_ **Fuck it up! Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Do I have your attention?** _

Meanwhile, Toru quickly found herself in a predicament that she was sure Oijiro could relate to. "Ow! Ow! My feet are stuck!" She whined when her bare feet suddenly became incased in ice. When it became clear that she wasn't going to be able to wiggle her feet free, Toru instead focused her solar power to her feet.

_ **I was chillin' in the club lookin' cute all by myself,** _   
_ **I saw my ex lookin' a mess and pressed upon somebody else** _   
_ **So I strutted up to the dance floor** _   
_ **And took off my earrings** _   
_ **I did a kick into a split** _   
_ **And showed him what he was missing** _

Although thankful for the sudden warmth that flooded her cold feet, Toru closed her eyes and shoved her fingers in her ears when a piercing whistle and bright light started to emit from the ice around her feet.

_ **Like do I have your attention? (Hey!)** _   
_ **Do I have your attention? (Hey!)** _   
_ **Do I have your attention? (Hey!)** _   
_ **Do I have your attention? (Hey!)** _

She kept going until her icy shackles burst apart in a shower of shards and icy debris. "Ah! Cold! Cold! Cold! So cold!" Toru muttered under her breath as she precariously picked her way over the frozen wasteland that was now the office building.

_ **Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Do I have your attention?** _

Raising a hand to her earpiece, Toru made to contact Oijiro when the sound of ice crunching underfoot passed by. She froze in place (excuse the pun) as she watched Todoroki trek passed the side hallway where she had been hidden, the only evidence of her presence was the broken ice on the floor.

_ **Fuck it up! Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Do I have your attention?** _

Oijiro put his trust in me! I can do this! Toru thought as she carefully followed after Todoroki as quietly as she could, slipping and sliding across the new terrain much to her chagrin. By the time they had reached the hallway leading to the 'lair', Toru was sure that Todoroki knew she was following him as he stopped and turned to face in her general direction.

_ **I was treading in the gym** _   
_ **Lookin' like an effin' ten** _   
_ **When I saw my ex again** _   
_ **His new babe was a seven** _   
_ **So I twirled up to those weights** _   
_ **Put these cakes in his face** _   
_ **I did a squat, my butt said femme** _   
_ **And his new man said "Girl Goddamn!"** _

"I know you're there, there's no use in hiding" Todoroki stated dully. There was something in the way he had addressed her that just ticked her off. _Acting all high and mighty, huh? Well, we'll see about that!_ Toru thought as she purposefully cleared her throat, catching his full attention.

_ **This shit jelly ain't jam** _   
_ **They thick, I say yes ma'am** _   
_ **Then I serve a shablam** _   
_ **Where my phone? Get my cam!** _   
_ **Post this body on the gram,** _   
_ **Like that's how bad a bitch I am!** _

When his eyes were solely focused on where she was standing, Toru raised her hands up, palms outwards and flashed a bright flare of the solar lights in his direction. Not enough to physically hurt him mind you, but just enough to blind him temporarily.

_ **Now do I have your attention? (Hey!)** _   
_ **Do I have your attention? (Hey!)** _   
_ **Do I have your attention? (Hey!)** _   
_ **Do I have your attention? (Hey!)** _

Todoroki couldn't help but shove his hands over his eyes as he rubbed the heels of his hands over his eyelids in order to try to regain he ability to see. Thankfully, his eyes didn't hurt too much, but it did remind him of when he was younger and he'd accidentally look at the sun or something similar.

_ **This is a fuckboy PSA** _   
_ **Talk to the left hand,** _   
_ **Talk to the left hand,** _   
_ **Cuz you ain't right** _   
_ **Which one are you?** _   
_ **Motherfuckers imma fuck tonight** _   
_ **You starin', you starin'** _   
_ **My bootie know you see 'em** _

However, it was in that moment of blindness that Toru moved. Striding over towards the blinded boy, Toru latched her hands onto his shoulders and pushed him downwards at the same time that she shoved her knee up into his groin. Hard.

Todoroki hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, curling up into a tight ball as he let out a low groan of pain. The results were just as she was hoping for, not only was the over-powerful Todoroki incapacitated, but it was unlikely that he was going to move anytime soon.

_ **And tell your boyfriend to stay out of my DM's** _   
_ **You heard me, stay out of my DM's (You so nasty)** _   
_ **Stay outta my DM's** _   
_ **Stay outta my DM's** _   
_ **My DM's, my DM's** _   
_ **Stay outta my DM's** _   
_ **Tell your new boyfriend to stay out of my DM's** _

It was only once she patted herself down in search for the capture tape, that she remembered that Oijiro was the one who still had it. "Damn! Well, then what can I...?" Toru trailed off as she searched for something to use as bindings.

As it turned out, the only things that appeared unharmed by the ice was a rather empty roll of duct tape hidden within the bowels of one of the filing cabinets. _If I can just...find the...end!_ Toru huffed spinning the roll round and round in her hands as she tried in vain to find the end of the tape.

_ **Fuck it up! Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Dance!** _   
_ **Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!** _   
_ **Do I have your attention?** _

Eventually, Toru was able to find the end of the tape and thanked her lucky stars that there was just enough of it to bind Todoroki's wrists and ankles at least once. When she was done, she couldn't help the grin that spread across her lips as she looked down upon the dual-haired boy at her feet. He looked like a pissy cat tangled in tape!

With a wicked grin on her lips, she turned away from him as she raised a hand to her earpiece. "Hey Oijiro?" She asked.

_**"Yeah?"**_ Oijiro's voice crackled through the earpiece.

"I've captured Todoroki"

_ **"What? Really?"** _

"Why the tone of surprise? Anyway, what do ya what me to do with him? I mean, I think you've still got the capture tape"

_ **"Ah yeah, I've got it here. Uh, I guess, just bring him here so we can tie him up?"** _

"Sounds good! We'll see you soon!"

_ **"Wait Hagakure!"** _

"Yeah?

_ **"Have you seen any sign of Shoji?"** _

"...No"

**"Be careful!"**

"You too!" Toru ended the conversation before pouting, "Geez! We sound like an old married couple, don't we?" She turned to Todoroki who looked liked he agreed, but refused to say.

** _Fuck it up! Dance!_ **   
** _Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!_ **   
** _Dance!_ **   
** _Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!_ **   
** _Dance!_ **   
** _Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!_ **   
** _Do I have your attention?_ **

Biting back the giggles that threatened to rise, Toru began to make the arduous journey down the hallway to the 'lair' with her bound cargo in tow. "Well, c'me on then!" Toru grabbed ahold of Todoroki's collar and began to drag him down the icy corridor, muttering curses and swears when she slipped and fell over every now and then.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the monitoring room where the rest of the class watched on as they stood huddled together, trying to protect themselves from the freezing cold. "Young Todoroki incapacitated them without compromising the weapon or his teammate! Take close note of his technique, students!" Complimented All Might.

A multitude of comments rose from the class as they watched the battle play out before their eyes. It was clear even to those who were watching, that Team B easily outmatched Team I in terms of power, but even then Team I seemed to be using this to their advantage. This time, the 'villains' took more of a stealthy approach in their attack.

"Whoa! He's so strong!"

"That Quirk is insane!"

"What happened to Shoji?"

"Look! Hagakure took Todoroki down without even breaking a sweat!"

"Ooh! What did she do?"

"I think she kicked him in the nuts! Ha!"

"Whoa! That's gotta be cheating, innit?"

"But it worked, didn't it?"

"That's why you don't piss off short people! They go for your kneecaps and the low-hanging fruit!"

"Hey, look! There's Oijiro!"

And indeed he was. 1-A watched on as Toru eventually managed to drag a rapidly blinking and bound Todoroki back to the room where Team I was keeping the weapon, and consequently, Oijiro was still frozen in place.

Toru dropped her hold on Todoroki when she reached a step or two inside the door before she fell over next to her shoes, for the umpteenth time. The only evidence of her fall being the small crack in the ice where she stood and the look of concern on Oijiro's face as he, no doubt, heard her mutter a curse as she fell.

Shiro bit back a grin as he watched the tiny little earpiece jerk to the right when the roll of capture tape obviously connected with Toru's head and the apologetic look adorning Oijiro's face. Subsequently, the duct tape binding Todoroki was replaced with the capture tape and the shoes by the door, were placed on cold feet as Toru chose to slide on her ass over to where Oijiro was still stuck.

* * *

"Is he okay?" Oijiro asked, looking down at the small ball of heat concentrated on the ice around his feet where Toru sat. It was an odd feeling, not being to physically see his partner, but still able to feel her and her Quirk.

"I think so" Toru paused in her actions, glanced over her shoulder at the boy in question. He seemed to be doing better, sitting up against the wall by the door and looked to be in less pain than he was before. She wasn't really sure though, how long did it take to recover from a kick to the groin anyway? Was it really as painful as they made it out to be?

"Are you sure? He looks a little pale"

"Really? I don't think I hit him that hard" Toru returned to melting the ice around Oijiro's ankles.

"What did you do to him anyway?"

"Hm? Oh I kneed him in the nuts"

"...W-what?"

"What?"

"W-why...why would you do that?"

"Well, it worked, didn't it?"

Oijiro went to say more when All Might's voice rang through their earpieces. _**"THAT'S IT! THE HERO TEAM WINS!"**_

"Huh?" Oijiro's head snapped up and around to see that Shoji had returned and had his hand placed on the dummy weapon.

"...What? _What?"_ Toru kept looking up at a surprised Oijiro, over at a bright-eyed Todoroki and back at a smirking Shoji who had somehow managed to sneak passed them all and reach the dummy weapon without any of them noticing. "How the hell...?"


	7. Rule #50a

_ **Rule #50: Beware of your choices, they show who you really are** _

_ **The news that All Might had been hired as a faculty member at UA, took the entire nation by surprise.** _

Following All Might's first official day as teacher, it was to no one's surprise that the front gates of UA were swarming with reporters that morning. Toru shivered from her spot across the street as she looked upon the group of buzzing reporters, each and every one like a dog pulling on its leash.

_There is no way I am going through that!_ Toru shivered as she watched a General Studies student get practically mauled by the group stuck at the front entrance. She was sure that if the high school's security was any less lax, then the reporters would have no qualms about pursuing their story further within the bounds of the school. _Maybe if I can find a tree somewhere…_

"Well, doesn't that just look like fun" Oijiro deadpanned, coming to stand next to Toru under the tree across the street.

"Oh, yeah, oodles and oodles" Toru sassed back with a grin, not that he could see.

"Good morning, Oijiro, Toru!" Ochako chirped as she and her brother joined the pair on the outskirts of the school's property.

"G'morning Uraraka" Oijiro smiled.

"How the _hell_ are we supposed to get through _that?"_ Shiro questioned.

"No clue"

"Great"

"I guess we could always scale the wall or something?" Toru suggested, glancing off towards the side.

"Oh yeah, cause that's gonna work real well, innit?" Shiro sassed.

Not two minutes later, the quartet found themselves situated in front of a section of the school's wall not too far from the front entrance. Toru stood at the front of the group analysing the wall as she systematically searched for the best way to the top of the concrete wall without any of them having to use their Quirks, least they get in trouble.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Ochako worried from next to her brother, "I mean, wouldn't it be easier to just brave the reporters?"

"Hang on, I think I've got it" Toru replied, tightening the straps on her bag before taking a flying leap towards the wall.

Once again thankful for Karasuma-Sensei's insistence that they learn parkour and free-running in order to further their assassination training; Toru easily made her way to the top of the wall where she sat, straddling the top before looking down at her gobsmacked classmates.

"Whose next?" Toru asked, holding out a hand to the others.

"…Yeah, alright" Shiro shrugged as he slung his shoulder bag over his chest before he started to scale the wall, grabbing a hold of Toru's wrist when she helped up the last bit of the wall. Next was Oijiro, who had less trouble than the two before him, but still accepted the help for the last little bit of the climb and jump down the other side with Toru following after him.

"Ochako? You comin'?" Shiro asked, glancing back at his sister who still stood on the ground, worriedly biting at her lip and sending furtive glances over towards the front entrance.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" She worried, "What if we get in trouble? What if we set off the security alarms? What if-"

"Y'know if you go via the front entrance, you'll be late for class" Shiro slyly reminded her as the warning bell rang.

"What's going on?" Toru called up to Shiro.

"Are you guys okay?"Oijiro added on.

"Hang on!" Shiro called down to the pair inside UA's property, "C'me on Sis, no one's gonna care. It's not like we're gonna get arrested for going sneaking _into_ school"

"I dunno…"

"Tell ya what, if you climb this wall right now I'll buy you some mochi after school" Ochako's eyes lit up at the aforementioned food, uncaring of the obvious bribe her brother had presented.

"Done!"

"Geez! Shoulda done that earlier" Shiro muttered as he finally hauled his sister up the wall and down the other side before jumping down after her. From there, it was easy for the group to hurry along to their classroom, unburden by the reporters still blocking the front entrance.

_ **Naturally, the media swarmed the school in search of a story. Everyone wanted to get their hands on All Might.** _

Unbeknownst to the group of first years, a single pair of eyes watched the entire scene play out, from across the street shrouded in the shade of a twisted and gnarly oak tree. Those eyes twinkled in amusement as they watched the final student get yanked over the wall. Oh yes! What an interesting class this was turning out to be!

_ **Yeah, everyone.** _

* * *

"…Let's get down to business" Aizawa-Sensei began, changing from berating both Midoriya and Bakugo respectively for yesterday's performance. "Our first task will decide your future"

_But no pressure or anything!_ Toru sassed as she and the rest of the class prepped themselves for yet another surprise from their teacher. _It better not be another stupid Quirk test!_

"You all need to pick a class representative" Aizawa-Sensei revealed.

_Oh good! Just normal school stuff!_ Toru and the rest of the class sagged with relief before shooting up in their seats as they shouted their nominations.

"Pick me guys! I wanna be class rep!"

"I'll take it!"

"Yeah, you're gonna need me"

"Someone with style would be best!"

"Pick me! I'm totally the right pick!"

_ **In a normal classroom, a representative's duties would be a bunch of extra work.** _

"Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!"

"Oh I wanna do it!"

"Let me have a go!"

"Back off losers, that spot's mine!" Voices layered each other as they grew in crescendo like the climax in a symphony, drowning out all other sounds around them.

_ **But here in the Hero course, there's more to it.** _

"What about you Toru? Why don't you go for it?" Shiro asked, turning to the invisible girl as the rest of the class shouted at the top of their lungs. Despite only half the class obnoxiously shouting out their own names and reasons for voting, the rest of the class sat back in their seats as they quietly waited for the whole ordeal to be over. Though that's not to say that some of them didn't want the spot, it was a good opportunity after all.

"Ah, I dunno…" Toru trailed off as she sheepishly scratched her cheek.

"Oh, c'me on! You got us into school today without having to take on the media" Shiro pursued, catching Tamaki's attention at the mention of the aforementioned menace still pacing outside the front gates, "Maybe there's someone you could imitate? Like a role model, or something? I mean, if that's what you're worried about"

"Ah hah…" Toru nervously laughed."I dunno about that" _Besides, it's not like I've got very good role models to begin with. Both Isogai & Kataoka were great class reps, but they were also assassins-in-training…_

_ **It's a way to get noticed by agencies and prove you can lead a team like a real pro.** _

"SILENCE! EVERYONE! PLEASE!" Iida shouted, his loud commanding voice cutting through the noise blanketing the room. "The class representative's duty is to lead others, it's not something just anyone can do. You must first have the trust of every student in the classroom, therefore the most logical way to fill this role is democratically: we will hold an election to choose our leader"

"Is this really the best idea?" Kaminari asked.

"We've only known each other a few days. How do we know who we can trust, ribbit?" Asui added.

"Besides everyone will just vote for themselves" Said Kirishima.

"Most people will, but that means whoever does receive multiple votes must truly be the most suitable person for the job" Iida replied before turning to Aizawa-Sensei now tucked away in his ratty sleeping bag. "It's the most logical way, right sir?"

"Do what you want, just decide before my nap is over" Aizawa-Sensei replied before flopping unceremoniously on the ground and falling fast asleep.

"Thank you for your trust!"

A few moments later after all the votes were cast and read, the election results were displayed on the board up front. As expected, each name held at least one vote next to it. _Who voted for me?_ Toru wondered, _I didn't even vote for me!_ However, the clear winners turned out to be Midoriya with four points and Yaoyorozu with three.

"OKAY YOU IDIOTS! WHO VOTED FOR HIM?!" Bakugo demanded jumping out of his chair when he saw the results.

"What? Did you honestly think that anyone was going to vote for you?" Sero replied.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY? HOW COULD YOU HAVE VOTED FOR HIM YOU LITTLE TURD?!"

With Bakugo once again blowing his top off to the side, it was the usually(somewhat) calm and collected Iida who seemed to be having trouble with the results as well. "Zero…votes? I feared this might happen, but I can't argue with the system I chose!" Iida muttered angrily.

"So you voted for someone else, huh?" Yayorozu questioned.

"Well you knew it was best to vote for yourself, right? What are you trying to prove here, Iida?" Added Sato.

"Hey look Toru, you got a vote!" Tamaki pointed out.

"Yeah, but so did almost everyone else" Toru replied, turning to the girl.

"You're not upset?"

"Why would I be? I can barely take care of myself, let alone another fleshy…thing"

"…You mean human?"

"Yeah"

"And yet you're training to be a hero?" Shiro piped up.

"Ironic right?" Toru replied.

Eventually, Aizawa-Sensei was able to wrestle the class under his control and hauled Midoriya & Yayorozu up to the front of the class. Where Yaoyorozu stood calm & collected, seemingly a very much natural born leader; simply put? Midoriya was a shaky mess. Toru could practically hear his teeth chattering from her seat.

"Alright, the class rep is Midoriya and out deputy is Yaoyorozu" Drawled Aizawa-Sensei.

"R-really? It's not…a mistake?" Midoriya stuttered,

"Ugh! How'd this happen?" Yaoyorozu sighed, clearly wanting the top position.

From the audience several satisfied comments arose at the pairing of class reps. "This might not be so bad, ribbit" Said Asui.

"Yeah, I could get behind Midoriya, I guess" Kirishima agreed. "And Yaoyorozu was totally on top of it when it came to our training results"

* * *

Finally, Aizawa-Sensei seemed to have enough of them as he let the class out for an early lunch. Not that that helped them to find a seat any faster, the cafeteria was still chock full with students ranging in every size, shape, colour, species and age.

"Ugh! It's _always_ so crowded in here!" Tamaki complained around her chopsticks.

"That's 'cause students in all the hero, support and general courses share the same cafeteria, remember?" Toru reminded the blonde as she plopped another section of maki sushi in her mouth, humming at the delicious combination of tuna, chilli & avocado.

"Still…I'd like at least a _little_ bit of wing space" Tamaki flapped her elbows up and down at this, nudging Shiro and the dark-haired third year that was sharing their table on her other side.

"Oi! Watch where you're swinging those things!" Shiro protested, dodging the stray limb.

Toru smiled softly at the pair, their antics reminding her very much of a certain red haired and blue haired pair of boys. Despite what Karma and Nagisa always said, there was no denying they got on like a house on fire. _This year must be strange for them._ Toru mused, _What with Nagisa in Hosu and Karma back in Tokyo._

Across from her, Tamaki seemed to be trying to shove rice down Shiro's throat. _Not that you ever really saw one without the other, of course. I wonder if they've kept in touch? Besides the group chat, I mean._ With nostalgic thoughts of Class 3-E floating around in her head and tears glistening in the corners of her eyes, Toru excused herself from the table, simply citing "Bathroom" as her excuse.

* * *

Thankfully the female bathroom she had managed to find was blissfully empty when she had entered. Taking advantage of the rare instance, Toru locked herself in one of the stalls and sagged back against the toilet in relief. Once there, Toru just let herself relax for a few moments away from any prying eyes.

_Ugh! This whole anxiety thing is a pain in the ass!_ Toru sighed, running a hand over her face in exasperation. _What's wrong with me? Why can't I just be normal? _Falling forward to lean her elbows on her knees, Toru huffed another sigh as her face rested in her hands and she closed her eyes.

_Why can't I just be me? Why do I have to hide all the time?_ She reached into her blazer pocket to retrieve her student ID from within its confines of her wallet. _I mean, my IDs just a shimmery outline of a person!…Wherever that is. _Toru's brow furrowed as she searched through her wallet & her uniform pockets for her ID._ Where is it? I'm sure I had it this morning._

Suddenly a thought popped into her mind. _Unless…I dropped it climbing the wall? Her face dropped at the thought, Oh God! Forget Aizawa-Sensei, Grammy's gonna kill me! Do I even have enough time to go look for it?_

Her thoughts were soon cut off by the wailing of the bell which not only rang earlier than usual, but in an odd pattern. Its usual single ring had been replaced with the repetitive sound of the bell ringing in a pattern of three, accompanied by an automated feminine voice that made Toru jolt upwards.

"What is that?" Toru asked aloud.

"WARNING! LEVEL THREE SECURITY BREACH! PLEASE EVACUATE THE BUILDING IN AN ORDERLY FASHION. WARNING! LEVEL THREE SECURITY BREACH! PLEASE EVACUATE THE BUILDING IN AN ORDERLY FASHION…" The automated voice intoned.

What followed next seemed to pass in a blur as Toru reactivated her invisibility before making her way over to the bathroom door and yanking it open. Instead of the empty hallway that she had emerged from beforehand, she was met with a wall of squirming & writhing students who pushed and shoved their peers in order to get out the door no matter what it took.

Her yelp of surprise was swallowed by the layered voices of panic that flowed from the sea of students in front of her. There was no doubt in her mind that if she tried to push her way into the throng, then she would get severely trampled, so she stayed where she was, tucked away in the relative safety of the bathroom's doorway.

She wasn't able to see what caused the throng to suddenly halt in their panic, but she was able to hear a familiar commanding voice carry out over the crowd. Thank God for Iida! Toru sagged against the doorframe, as her classmate told everyone that it was the media outside which had set the alarms off; her lost ID long forgotten.

Once everything had calmed down and everyone had reassembled back in their classrooms for the final periods of the day; it was clear (to a few of the 1-A students at least) who was really the right candidate for class rep.

Three guesses who. Yaoyorozu was _not_ pleased.


	8. Rule #30

_ **Rule 30: It's all fun and games until shit gets real** _

"…Today's training will be a little different" Aizawa-Sensei began, "You'll have three instructors: me, All Might and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you"

_Huh? Three pros? Is that because of the break-in?_ Toru thought as she listened to Aizawa-Sensei introduce the day's Hero lesson.

"Sir? What kind of training is this?" Sero questioned.

"Rescue. You'll be dealing with natural disasters, shipwrecks, stuff like that" He replied as murmurs arose throughout the class.

"Disasters, huh? Sounds like we're in for a big workout"

"Totally!"

"Finally! Real hero stuff! This is what separates the men from the boys, I'm practically shaking with excitement!"

"Finally, I'll get to show off how good I am in water, ribbit!"

"I wonder if we'll get to do something in the mountains!"

"Guys, I'm not finished yet" Intoned Aizawa-Sensei, cutting off any further comments "What you wear in this exercise is up to you. I know you're excited about costumes-" The shelves with their costumes slid out of the wall and you could almost feel the excitement & anticipation rise in the room.

"-But you haven't gotten used to them yet and they might limit your abilities. This training is at an off campus facility, so we'll be taking a bus to get there. That's all, start getting ready" He warned before walking out the door and off to meet the bus out the front.

* * *

Once garbed in their costumes, the class gathered together, scattered aimlessly across the front lawn like wandering pigeons as they waited for Aizawa-Sensei to return from wherever he had run off to. The bus sat ready and waiting at the (thankfully media-free) front gates with Iida standing next to it, all ready to go.

** _FWEET!_ **

_Oh God! We created a monster, didn't we?_ Toru thought as Iida blew on his silver whistle, cutting through any and all dwindling conversations.

"GATHER ROUND CLASS 1-A! USING YOUR STUDENT NUMBERS, FORM TWO NEAT LINES SO WE CAN LOAD THE BUS EFFICIENTLY!"

_ **FWEET! FWEET!** _

"If he blows that whistle one more time…" Tamaki threatened, already annoyed at Iida's gung-ho approach to his position at class-rep.

"You can't hurt classmates, Tama" Shiro sighed, despite the expression of agreement on his face.

** _FWEET! FWEET!_ **

_Oh he is so taking this whole class representative thing a bit too far._ Toru agreed.

"Who? Me? I would _never_ harm a classmate, Shiro! For shame!" Toru grinned at the sarcasm practically dripping from Tamaki's sugary sweet tone.

"Oh yeah sure, like I haven't heard _that_ before" Shiro retorted.

It's not like it mattered anyway, the set-up of the bus' interior drove a wrench into Iida's carefully constructed seat plan; much to his dismay. In the first row of the back-half of the bus, Toru sat horizontally letting her short legs drape over the seat next to her and leant her head back against the cold window behind her.

"…The bus' open layout ruined my boarding strategy" Iida sulked from up the front.

"Geez…he really needs to let that go" Tamaki groaned with a roll of her eyes as she glanced up from the game she had been playing on her phone; her eyes just barely reaching over the back of Toru's seat.

"Mmm" Shiro grumbled in his sleep as he shifted even further onto Tamaki; at which point he was practically hugging the poor blonde like a teddy bear. Although from her posture and expression you wouldn't even know it, as used to as she was. Or maybe she was just absorbed in her phone.

Peeling one eye open, Toru's head tiredly lolled to the side as she watched the scene in front of her play out; their not-so-quiet conversation carrying throughout the bus. "…If we're pointing out the obvious, then there's something I wanna say" Asui piped up as she turned to Midoriya on her right, "About you actually, ribbit"

"About me? What is it Asui?" Midoriya panicked.

"I _told_ you to call me Tsu, ribbit"

"Oh yeah, yeah, right"

"That power of yours, isn't it a lot like All Mights, ribbit?"

"Ah! W-What? Really? You think so? Really? I never really thought about that…I guess it's kinda similar-"

"Wait! Hold on, Tsu" Kirishima interjected from Asui's left, "You're forgetting that All Might doesn't hurt himself, that makes a _huge_ difference"

"Phew!" Midoriya quietly let out a breath.

"Still, I bet it's cool to have a simple augmenting-type of Quirk. You could do a lot of flashy stuff with it" Kirishima raised a hardened arm as he spoke, "My hardening's super strong and can destroy bad guys in a fight but it doesn't look all that impressive"

"Oh no way! I think it's really awesome looking!" Midoriya fanboyed, "You're definitely Pro material with a Quirk like that"

"You really think so?" Kirishima looked at his hand as he released his Quirk, "Seems like it would be easier to be a popular hero if I had something flashier"

_"My_ navel laser has the perfect combination of panache and strength" Boasted Aoyama.

"But it's way lame if it gives you a stomachache, sweetie" Toru smiled at Ashido's reply.

"Well, if any of our classmates have Pro Quirks, it's Todoroki and Bakugo" Continued Kirishima. Bakugo looked up at the mentioned of his name before turning to stare back out the window next to him and in the seat behind him Todoroki continued to doze.

"Sure, but Bakugo's always angry, so he'll never be that popular, ribbit" Asui replied nonchalantly much to Midoriya's surprise and Bakugo's explosive anger.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?! I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!" Exploded Bakugo, jumping up in his seat. Across from him, Shiro jumped awake at the sudden noise, sleepily turning to face the source before cuddling back into Tamaki as he had before.

Despite the various looks that Asui had sent her way at her blasé comment and Jiro leaning as far away from the blonde next to her, there wasn't really any more of a reaction from the rest of the class. "See?" Asui pointed to the enraged blonde.

"Y'know we basically just met you, so it's kinda telling that we all know your personality is flaming crap mixed with garbage" Kaminari added with a lazy shit-eating grin on his face. Bakugo ground his teeth as the fuse to his hair-trigger temper was lit.

"YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THE DAY YOU EVER APPLIED TO THIS SCHOOL, YOU LOSER!" Bakugo roared, leering closer to the fellow blonde.

Toru shifted in her seat as she felt her butt falling asleep, turning to lean against the backrest of the seats with her eyes slipping shut once more. Up front, the sounds of Iida's authoritative scolding and Bakugo's heightened angry retorts faded into background noise like chattering birds in the early morning.

It was barely even five minutes later when Aizawa-Sensei's bored voice cut through any lingering conversations. "Hey! Hey! We're here, stop messing around"

"Yessir" Droned the group in question.

* * *

"Oh wow! Look at this place! It's huge!" Toru gasped in awe, twisting and turning in place as the class walked inwards; craning her head this way and that to see everything that she could.

"That's what she said" Tamaki smirked.

"Tama!" Shiro cuffed the girl over the head as the trio followed their classmates to where they had gathered in front of 13, another Pro-Hero and apparently, one of their instructors for this exercise.

"Hello everyone, I've been waiting for you!" Chirped 13; their androgynous voice distorted as it crackled through the voice box in their spacesuit much to the excitement of those gathered.

"It's the Space Hero: 13! A chivalrous hero whose rescued a ton of people from disasters across the world!" Midoriya's fanboyish comments easily mixing in with the other awed comments from the rest of the class.

"I can't wait to show you everything!"

_This is going to be awesome!_ Toru grinned following after the rest of her excited classmates as 13 led the way to the training ground.

"Holy crap! It looks like some kind of amusement park!" Kirishima exclaimed, saying what they were all thinking. The size of the cavernous room in front of them would have easily encompassed UA's main campus many times over.

From where they were standing, Toru could see that the room had been split up into different sectors, one for each training simulation. There was everything from a shipwreck, to a landslide, to an urban fire, to a windstorm, to a mountain range and several other things in between.

"…I created this training facility to prepare you to deal with different types of disasters" 13 proudly declared, "I call it: The Unforeseen Simulation Joint, but you can call it: the USJ!"

_Isn't that just like Universal Studios Japan?_ Toru wondered, her thoughts drifting to the famous amusement park in question.

"Hey, shouldn't All Might be here already?" Questioned Aizawa-Sensei as he walked over to the other Pro, "Lemme guess: he booked an interview instead"

"Actually it's something else" 13 quietly replied, "Apparently he did too much Hero work on the way to school this morning and used up all his power. He's resting in the teacher's lounge right now"

"That man is the height of irresponsibility…The clock's ticking, we should get started"

"Excellent," 13 raised their voice once more talking to the students before them as Aizawa-Sensei moved off to the side, "Before we begin, let me just say one thing!…Well, maybe two things, possibly three, four, five…"

_Ugh! We get it!_ Toru rolled her eyes as 13 rambled on.

"Listen carefully, I'm sure you're aware that I have a powerful Quirk called Black Hole. I can use it to suck up anything and turn it into dust"

"Yeah! You've used it to save all people from all kinds of disasters before, haven't you?" Gushed Midoriya.

"That's true, but my Quirk could also quite easily be used to kill" That statement immediately silenced any lingering moments of awe as 13 explained the reality of the situation to them, "Some of you also have powers that could be dangerous"

_Yeah, you're tellin' me._ Toru absentmindedly rubbed a hand along the burn scar that wrapped around her fingers and knuckles like gaudy rings.

"…In our superhuman society all Quirks are certified and strictly regulated; so we often overlook how dangerous they can actually be. Please don't forget that if you lose focus or make the wrong move, your powers can be deadly even if you're trying to do something virtuous like rescue someone.

However, thanks to Aizawa's fitness tests, you have a solid idea of your Quirk's potential and because of All Might's combat training, you likely experienced how dangerous your powers could be when used against other people…"

_And thanks to Bitch-Sensei's lessons in languages and art, Karasuma-Sensei's lessons in deadly combat and Koro-Sensei's lessons in general…_ Toru continued dryly.

"…Carry those lessons over to this class, today you're going to learn how to use your Quirks to save people's lives. You won't be using to powers to attack enemies or each other, only to help. After all, that is what being a Hero is all about: ensuring the safety of others. That's all I have to say, thank you so much for listening" 13 bowed.

"Right, now that that's over" Aizawa-Sensei interjected just as the lights around the rim of the USJ dome flickered and went out. Down in the center of the room, the fountain which had been flowing since their arrival, was cut off as a dark cloud descended upon the room.

The golden beady eyes that emerged from the head of the flowing cloud revealed the creature to be what it truly was as a pale hand emerged from the dark body and stepped out onto the training floor. It appeared to be a portal of some kind. Behind them came roves of villains in every size, shape and species with each and every one of them looking for a fight.

"Stay together and don't move, 13 protect the students" Aizawa-Sensei ordered as he went into full Hero mode. _I don't think I've ever seen Aizawa-Sensei so serious._ Toru mused, her body suddenly tense at the change in her teacher's personality. _Or so awake._

"Whoa! What is that thing?" Kirishima warily asked, fear creeping into his voice as the darkness spread far and wide, depositing an endless number of villains."Wait, has the training started already? I thought we were rescuing people?"

"STAY BACK!" Aizawa-Sensei snapped when the frontrunners tried to move forward to get a better look. "This is real" Aizawa-Sensei pulled his worn golden goggles over his eyes as he spoke, "Those are villains"

At those words, the entire class seemed to freeze, a collective Oh shit! seemed to run through everyone's minds as they watched the events unfold before them. The excitement that had once enveloped the class had at a drop of a hat, turned to fear.

This was one lesson they were never going to forget.

_ **We thought we were going to be practising saving other people's lives that day, but when they appeared? We realised we were the ones in danger…** _


	9. Rule #40

_ **Rule 40: If it seems like someone is out to get you, they are** _

_ **That day we learned what the Pro Heroes are really up against, the darkness they faced to keep us safe. We looked at these villains and pure evil stared back.** _

The old bandages that usually sat draped around Aizawa-Sensei's shoulders like a droopy scarf suddenly flared to life and despite the dire situation, reminded Toru very much of a frill-necked lizard. Just in front of them, 13 made sure to keep the class back and out of the way for their protection and out from underfoot of the Pro.

"What? Real villains?" Kirishima questioned in disbelief, "No way! How could so many of them get into a UA facility this secure?"

"Yeah, 13 why aren't the alarms going off?" Yaoyorozu stepped forth.

"Good question, not sure" 13 replied.

"Is the entire campus under attack? Or is this their only target? Either way if the alarm sensors weren't triggered then one of these villains must have a Quirk that is able to mask their presence here" Suggested Todoroki.

"Which means they carefully chose this isolated facility as an entry point at a time when a class was being taught" Shiro continued, "They're either fools or genius' for trespassing here. That said, they've thought this out, whatever their plan, they must have a concrete objective in mind"

"But what is it?" Todoroki ended.

"Hey, look!" Toru pointed to the quiet villain at the back, though her eyes stayed trained on the monster at his side, "Handsy must be the boss"

"How d'ya figure?" Tamaki asked, her gaze zipping back and forth between the endless number of villains, "He's not even moving, he's just standing there"

"Like Todoroki & Shiro said, they've obviously got some kind of plan in mind: y'know, play the pawns to protect the king"

"Like chess!"

"Exactly"

"13, get them outta here and alert the main campus" Aizawa-Sensei ordered, moving forth as he prepared to take on the drones of mindless villains before them. "Actually if they've got the ability to block our sensors then they might be jamming our regular communications too. Kaminari, try using your Quirk to contact the school"

"Yessir!" Replied the blonde as he set to work.

"What are you going to do? You can't fight them on your own! There's too many of 'em, even if you can nullify their Quirks your fighting style's not suited for this! Your power works best in stealthy fights and that's not gonna help with a group…" Midoriya piped up, his rambles quickly revealing just how much of his analysis' he knew by heart.

"You can't be a Pro if you only have one trick" Aizawa-Sensei retorted over his shoulder, "I'll leave it to you, 13" And with that he launched forward to battle.

13 motioned them forward, back towards the entrance behind them. With one last backward glance at the monstrous beast still behind them, Toru fled with the rest of 1-A. And yet, she couldn't help but shake the feeling of familiarity that surrounded the brain-exposed creature.

There was just…something about it that seemed to ring a bell with her. Maybe it was the way it held itself? Or was it the way it appeared? Just what was about this creature that tickled her fancy so?

Her fast-paced musings were cut off with the reappearance of the portal villain who appeared before them, blocking their exit as he did so. "There is no escape for you" purred the disembodied voice of whoever stood before them, "It''s a pleasure to meet you, we are the League of Villains" Despite the polite manners and sweet tone, everyone was still tensed, ready and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"…I know it's impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say 'hello' and besides, isn't this the perfect place for All Might, the Symbol of Peace, to take his last breath?"

_W-what? Did he just say…?_ Toru started.

"I believe he was supposed to be here today and yet I see no sign of him. There must've of been some sort of change in plans we did not foresee. Ah, well, in the end I suppose it doesn't matter I still have a role to play"

The creature before them spread out its…arms at the same time that 13 popped off a finger socket in preparation to use their Quirk. Only they never got the chance as Kirishima and Bakugo simultaneously jumped forth, sending a fiery attack towards the dark being.

Toru felt like she was trying to cough up a lung when the smoke and debris from the aftershock of the attack enveloped the class. However when the cloud dissipated it revealed the villain to still be standing before them unharmed. _And why would they be? It's obviously got some sort of teleportation or portal Quirk!_ She thought.

"You live up to your school's reputation" Purred the villain, its voice bounced around like an echo as it spoke, "But you should be more careful children, otherwise someone might get hurt"

"You two…GET OUT OF THE WAY RIGHT NOW!" 13 demanded.

"I'll scatter you across this facility" The swirling darkness before them swept forth and enveloped the class in a black dome, "…to meet my comrades and your death!"

_What…is this?_ Toru grit out, her arms raised to protect her face from the twisting mass surrounding her as it pushed and pulled at her small figure. Though despite her best efforts, her feet were easily swept out from underneath her and she was sucked backwards into dark mass.

And then she was falling. One moment she had been amongst her peers, blanketed by a dark swirling mass and then next she was free falling towards the ground. Flailing a little in the air, Toru was eventually able to right herself so that she was falling face first, like a skydiver towards the ground below.

Despite the situation, it was not fear that coursed through her veins (though maybe it should have been given the circumstances) but anticipation-filled adrenaline. An almost predatory grin spread across her face as she quickly scanned the fast approaching ground. _Finally, let's have some fun!_

She was able to see that she had been deposited somewhere in the landslide zone. Not only that, but Todoroki was there as well and he had already gone to work in quickly freezing any and all villains in the area; they looked like little ice statues. _Party pooper!_

As Toru came within reaching distance of one of the purposefully upturned lampposts, she leant forward slightly, just enough for her to tip forward so that her hands could grip onto the metal of the pole. Thankful for her gloves, Toru used the force of her sudden turn to swing herself around the pole like a fireman before coming to rest on a frosty piece of rubble that jutted out from the base of the lamppost.

From there it was easy enough to slide down the ice-encrusted rubble and pick her way over to where Todoroki stood amongst a collection of frosty villains, stuck in place with expressions of anger and fury written across their faces.

As Toru drew closer she could hear Todoroki almost scolding the villains, "…to scatter us and kill us? Tch, you were woefully unprepared. In fact, to me it looks like you've had no training, you haven't the slightest idea how to use your Quirks"

Stunned comments arose from the frozen villains as Todoroki moved passed the frozen group and onto the next pair that tried to attack. It seemed that they weren't expecting such a response from a class of first years. "This power…it froze us the instance we warped here!"

"He's not a kid, he's monster!"

"So cold!"

"Ah! Don't shoot! It's just me!" Toru cried with hands raised as Todoroki spun on his heel to face her, obviously thinking she was another villain trying to creep up on him.

"Hagakure?" Todoroki questioned, lowering his frosty hands when he spotted the floating goggles and gloves behind him.

"Mmhm, is that all of them?" Toru craned her head this way and that as she looked for any more villains hiding in the shadows.

"So far, duck" Todoroki merely raised a hand to the outstretched lance that swept over Toru's head and swept a foot along the ground, incasing the two ambushing villains in ice.

"They're not very good, are they?" Toru rose from her crouch as she inspected the icy villains around them.

"From what I can tell there are only four or five _truly_ dangerous people here. If that's the case, what we need right now is more information"

"Yeah, you're right"

Todoroki lifted his voice from the quiet tones he had been using with Toru to talk to the surrounding villains, "Listen well, if you stay frozen your cells will slowly die as your body succumbs to frostbite and hypothermia"

He moved over to the closet upright villain and placed a misty hand over their terror-filled face "…Luckily for you I wanna be a hero so I'd like to avoid any unnecessary cruelty but I can only do that if you tell me how you plan to kill All Might; that's the only way you'll survive"

The villain sniffled and blubbered as his face was enveloped by the misty cold that flowed from Todoroki's hand, invading all manner of airways and orifices as he struggled in his icy chains. Toru bit her lip as she watched the exchange going on before her, it was becoming more and more clear (to her at least) that this one didn't really know what was going on.

"Don't bother" Toru eventually spoke up, "He doesn't know anything"

"How do you know?" Todoroki asked as he turned from the villain, dropping his hand as he did so.

"I mean look at him" Toru gestured to the shivering man, "His appearance and fighting prowess clearly show he's nothing more than a thug or a hired gun. Not to mention he keeps looking off in that direction, which means he's probably looking for direction from someone else, like…" Toru moved over to stand next to the villain so she could follow his wandering eye line.

"…Him" A grin spread across her lips when her gaze landed on a large, bulky man frozen in a kneeling position not too far away. Her shoes crunched against the ice as she picked her way over to the frozen villain, before coming to a stop in front of him with Todoroki at her side. "Hello" Toru purred.

There was nothing obviously outstanding about the man in front of them; sure he seemed to be imitating a bodybuilder but other than that, there were noticeable signs as to what sort of Quirk he had. "Can you thaw him out? Just enough for him to talk" Toru questioned.

Silently, Todoroki did as he was asked before stepping back in line with the brunette who hummed her thanks. The man in question slowly lifted his head, his stiff neck cracking from the awkward position as he raised his beady eyes to the two teens before him.

Toru took a step or two forth, breaking the silence and drawing the man's gaze to her. Or at least where he thought she was. "Just tell us what we want, c'me on man we don't have to do this" Toru began, purposefully tinging her tone with slight desperation, a rather big contrast to the purr she had greeted him with.

"No, we don't" The villain spat, sending a wad of spit straight towards her eye "Why don't you just let me go, cause I don't know nothing"

"All right" Toru nodded her head in resignation and though she kept her eyes on the man before her, she raised a gloved hand to stop Todoroki from coming any closer. With a put-upon sigh, Toru slowly and carefully removed one of her gloves before turning back to the man. "I want you to think about your eyes, you see this? This light?" Toru raised her bare hand now glowing with her Quirk.

Possibly despite his best interests, the villain's eyes zoned in on the hand in question as Toru continued to nonchalantly raise her hand towards his face. "…This is bright enough to blind you forever; eyes open or closed, it doesn't matter…" Her hand raised up his squirming body to rest mere centimetres away from his pudgy face "…So, do you wanna spend the rest of your life in dark? Or do you wanna tell us want we want?"

"Nnn…nngh! Gah! Ah!" The man grunted and groaned as Toru intensified the light and heat emanating from her palm.

"Well? What is gonna be?" Toru spoke calmly like she was asking someone about their day. A calm exterior hiding the storm within. For despite the calm exterior she put on, inside she was practically brimming with excitement. _God! I didn't realise how much I missed this kind of thing!_

"No!…God! God! Stop! God stop!" Toru pushed harder until the smell of cooking flesh began to permeate the area, "God! The boss was gonna do it!…Ngh! His pet! He was gonna use his pet!" The man blubbered.

"Which one?" Toru pursued unconcerned.

"Nn!…N-Nomu! The Nomu! I swear! God! Please stop!" He was sobbing by now.

"Hagakure, that's enough" Todoroki intervened lowering her arm with a hand on her wrist.

"Mm" She easily agreed pulling her glove back on.

"You…bitch!" Spat the villain blinking furiously at the sudden change.

Toru didn't say anything, instead turned and punched the sobbing man in the nose, knocking him out for good measure. She turned back to Todoroki who seemed to be regarding her with an odd expression she couldn't quite decipher, "Shall we?"


	10. Rule #1

_ **Rule #1: Never let suspects stay together** _

When Toru and Todoroki finally rejoined the rest of 1-A, they were greeted to Bakugo shouting at Midoriya once again. "GET THE HELL OUTTA MY WAY DEKU!" Bakugo screeched as he launched a fiery fist straight for the dark mass that had split up the class to begin with. _Geez, what did we miss?_ Toru thought as she took in the scene.

All Might appeared to have arrived and was now currently captured by the Nomu (who was using the portal villain to practically split himself in two), Midoriya seemed to be running to his idol's aid and Bakugo had leapt in with a fiery fist to the middle of the dark mass where he grabbed a hold of the metal container hidden there.

Despite the rather dire situation they appeared to be in, Toru found herself frozen in place. With disbelieving wide eyes, she stared at the Nomu before her. _I have to move! Have to help!_ But no matter how she tried, she just couldn't bring her eyes away from the creature in the portal.

Her mouth had turned sour and her heart began to hammer in her chest when she first set her sights back on the Nomu again. _Surely it couldn't be?_ She thought, _It's not possible! It just…it can't be!_ Thoughts of hope, disbelief and sorrow stirred in her gut as her gaze roved over the form of the hunched creature before her.

I_ can't see any tentacles, but it could be hiding them_. She worried, _Or maybe it's a new recipe? Is this another one of Shiro's experiments? But since when did he share? Is he even still alive?_ The beady eyes and numbered wrist were what drew her eyes the most, confirming some of her thoughts on the matter. _Though the exposed brain is new._

Next to her Todoroki wasted no time in sending a path of ice along the floor straight for the Nomu's legs. Unfortunately for the creature, the portal worked against his favour in this instance as the ice travelled up his leg, along his torso through the portal and back up along his chest and arm.

"One of your poorly trained thugs told us you're here because you think you can kill All Might" Todoroki stated as a way of explanation. Thankfully due to Todoroki's quick thinking All Might was able to seperate the fingers clutching onto him just enough to escape; although it was not without injury.

"Huh? Are you okay?" A teary-eyed Midoriya asked eyeing All Might's injured side just as Kirishima joined the party with a punch headed straight for Tomura who easily danced away from the incoming teen. "Ugh! Damn it! That's gonna be cool!" Kirishima whined.

"Guess I found your body _that_ time, you smoky bastard!" Bakugo taunted his hostage.

"The Symbol of Peace will not be defeated by delinquents like you" Todoroki added his two cents.

"K-Kaachan…Everyone…" Midoriya breathed and still Toru remained motionless, frozen in her unknown fear.

"…Kurogiri? How could you let this _brat_ get the best of you?" Tomura rasped, turning to the dark mass beneath Bakugo's fingers. "You've gotten us into a real jam here"

"Ha! You got careless you dumb villain!" Bakugo taunted. "It wasn't hard to figure you out: only certain parts of you turn into that smoking warp gate"

Bakugo leant in close "…You use that mist to hide your actual body as a kind of distraction thing that made you safe,;that's why we missed. But if you didn't have body you wouldn't have this neck armour, right? You're not immune to physical attacks if they're well aimed"

"Uh?" Kurogiri raised his head.

"Don't move!" Bakugo fired a warning shot into the armour. "Heh, you try anything funny and I'll blow your ass so bad that they'll be piecing you back together for weeks"

"Oi, that doesn't sound very heroic" Kirishima commented.

Toru found that as Kirishima and Bakugo bantered back and forth showcasing their skills as they did so, that she was able to relax a little. _Not alone, gotta remember I'm not alone._ She bit her lip. _Good._

There was silence on both ends as Tomura seemed to mull over the teens' words before the blue-haired man turned to the creature still stuck in the portal. He simply stated "Nomu" though the creature seemed aware of what his master was thinking and his top half began to sink into the portal and out the other side.

When the Nomu remerged from the other side of the portal, the limbs which had been frozen broke off and fell to the floor like china plates. But that didn't seem to deter it, instead it rose to its feet and shook off the ice as it were nothing more than a layer of dust.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"How the hell…?"

"How is that thing still moving? It's all messed up!"

"Stay back everybody!"

What happened next spurred Toru into motion. With the ice gone, the Nomu wasted no time in quickly regenerating its lost limbs; muscle forming over new bone, tissue and nerves. "NO!" Toru cried and impulsively stepped forth with her arms swiping in front of her in a scissor-like motion. From every tip of her fingers a single beam of condensed light burst forth, forming together in two beams which easily sliced through the Nomu's torso like it was made of butter.

Silence reigned as the gathered group watched the Nomu pause for a moment, wobbling to and fro in a confused motion before the top half slipped from the bottom and landed on the ground with a solid thump.

"Hagakure…" Kirishima turned in her direction, his face paled a few shades. "What did you do?" Before Toru could reply however, both halves of the Nomu twitched on the ground before coming alive once more. What was once missing from both halves began to regenerate, this time forming not one but two seperate Nomus.

"HAGAKURE! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO?!" Bakugo snapped with fury written across his face.

"Oh shit" Toru swore as both creatures rose from the ground and turned on the group and menacingly leered over the heroes. "Oh _shit"_

"What is this?" All Might demanded, "I thought you said his power was shock absorption!"

"I didn't say it was his _only_ Quirk. He also has super regeneration" Smirked Tomura "…Nomu has been modified to take you on even at 100% of your power. He's basically a highly efficient punching bag that hits back"

"OH GREAT! THANKS FOR NOTHING HAGAKURE!" Bakugo sassed.

"Shut up Bakugo!" Toru snapped as she and the others fell into battle stances, readying themselves for the inevitable fight.

"First things first, we need to free our method of escape. You deal with the extras" Tomura directed this order to the Nomu on the right, "…And you go deal with that bitch, we don't want any loose ends hanging around" A knowing look was directed in Toru's direction as the Nomu on the left tensed and swung his head in her direction.

Toru found herself locking eyes with a devilish Tomura and a combination of fear and anticipation filled her bones. "Get 'em Nomu" With the order given both Nomu rushed forth, one going for All Might and her classmates whilst another was headed straight for her.

Even split in half, the Nomu exceeded regular speeds known to most. Toru could barely blink before she found herself being hoisted up into the air by the Nomu who had a death grip around her neck. _That had…to be at…least mach…2! And even when it…can't see me, it can…still track me!_ Toru choked, black dots dancing on the edges of her vision.

All other noise and activity around her turned to white noise as she struggled in the Nomu's grip. The instinctual scrabbling against the hand that held her yielded nothing and so in nothing more than muscle memory, her once limp legs snapped up and wrapped themselves around the arm holding her, locking the arm in a fly triangle hold.

It seemed to be surprise more than anything that made the Nomu jerk back a step or two. And it was this that Toru took advantage of. With her fear slowly morphing into blood thirsty determination, she allowed her light Quirk to activate and flow through any and all limbs with only one thought in mind. _Burn._

A loud pained roar bellowed in her ears from the Nomu who forcefully threw her from his hold, the smell of burning flesh now permeating the area. Despite her vice-like grip on the meaty arm, Toru was thrown back several feet, bouncing along the ruined ground a few times before rolling to a stop.

Distantly she recognised Midoriya and Kirishima calling her name, asking if she was okay amongst other things. Off to the side All Might was locked in battle with the other Nomu and Tomura appeared more interested in that battle. _And why wouldn't he be? They're here for All Might-Sensei, right?_

Gulping in lungfuls of air, Toru rocked forth onto the balls of her feet with hands placed in front of her like she was an olympic sprinter. Her Quirk danced just beneath the surface of her skin like lightning in a storm and a wicked challenge in her gleaming eyes.

As if sensing her challenge, the Nomu charged forth like a rampaging bull, this time at a more regular speed. When the creature was within a few meters of her, Toru expertly swung her legs out from underneath her, spinning around on her hands like a breakdancer dancer. From her feet, light like molten fire flowed; it twisted and danced around her like fiery ribbons burning everything and all in its path.

"Whoa!" She heard Kirishima call as he slammed to a halt, just barely yanking Midoriya back from the sudden bright onslaught. The Nomu wasn't so lucky, obviously not expecting the sudden attack, he was thrown backwards far enough that Toru felt she could stop spinning.

Coming to rest in a crouch, Toru stayed locked in her position as she waited for the Nomu's next move. Her eyes never left the creature, _There's no way that thing is done! It was created to take on All Might-Sensei not some kid!_ Her eyes narrowed as beads of sweat dribbled down her face and neck.

"Hagakure? Are you alright?" Kirishima called as he drew nearer with Bakugo at his side.

"…Yeah" Toru rasped, not turning to face the two boys now at her sides. Three sets of eyes locked on the Nomu before them.

"Did you get it?" Midoriya asked.

"No" Toru replied.

"There's now way that's it" Agreed Kirishima. And indeed it wasn't. Across from them, they watched the Nomu rise to its feet ready to go again, only this time it was thwarted by the other Nomu barrelling into it from where All Might had thrown it away.

"Wha-?"

"Huh?"

"Uh…" All three heads snapped towards the right where Todoroki and Bakugo (who was still in shock from his sudden evacuation atop Kurogiri) stayed frozen in place watching All Might fight. A little ways away All Might stood with his arm locked in a defence position just in front of a large hole in the wall behind him.

"…Let's go" Suggested Kirishima.

"Uh, right" Toru rocked back onto the heels of her feet and accepted the hand Kirishima held out to her, before the trio returned to the others only a little worse for wear.

When the trio were reunited with their classmates, small nods and glances were exchanged as they made sure each other was all right before all five of them tuned back into the fight before them. Both Nomus had returned to Tomura's side, this time both more focused on the muscular blonde before them.

"…These are kids and you didn't hold back?" All Might demanded.

"I didn't have much choice" Tomura rasped, "They were threatening my companion. Besides these kids are no angels: the plain-looking one? He tried to kill me with a maxed-out punch and the girl? She cut my Nomu in half. What kind of hero does something like that?"

Tomura looked down his nose as he spoke, "You think you can get away with being as violent as you want if you say it's for the sakes of others"

"Hn" All Might tensed.

"Well, you know what All Might?" Tomura spread his arms out, "That pisses me off. Why do some people get to decide that some violent acts are heroic and others are villainous? Casting judgement on what's _good_ and what's_ evil._ She knows what I'm talking about, isn't that right little girl?"

"Tch" Toru clenched her fists at her sides and ground her teeth in agitation as the boys sent a look or glance at her. _He couldn't be referring to Koro-Sensei, could he? But then how the hell would he know about that?_

Tomura turned back to All Might "…You think you're the Symbol of Peace? Ha! You're just another government sponsored instrument of violence, and violence always breeds more violence. I'll make sure the world understands that once you're dead"

"You're nothing but a lunatic. Criminals like you, you always try to make your actions sound noble but admit it, you're only doing this because you like it! Isn't that right?" All Might retorted.

"You've got me _all_ figured out"

"Hm. we've got them outnumbered" Todoroki started.

"And Kaachan found the mist-guy's weakness" Continued Midoriya.

"These dudes may act really tough, but we could take them down with All Might's help" Ended Kirishima, activating his Quirk. "Let's do this"

"Wait! Don't attack! Get out of here!" All Might walked in front of the group, stopping them from going any further.

"You would have been in trouble earlier if it wasn't for me, remember? You need our help" Todoroki argued.

"I thank you for your assistance, but this it different. It's gonna be alright. Just sit back and let a Pro go to work!"

"But you're too hurt! You're bleeding! And you're almost out of-!" Interjected Midoriya.

All Might merely raised a thumb to the group before turning back to the task at hand. "Nomu, Kurogiri kill him. I'll deal with the children" Tomura ordered. "Let's clear this level and go home"

"Heads up, we're fightin' after all" Kirishima warned as Tomura race forth with the Nomus at his side.

However they needn't have worried about Tomura for the force of the shockwave from All Might's punch meeting the Nomu's set him flying backwards. "Weren't you listening? One of his powers in shock absorption!" Tomura reprimanded.

"Yeah what about it?" All Might replied as he engaged in a battle of fists. The shockwaves produced sent everyone flying further and further along the ground, rubble and debris flew high into the air and still the pair fought on.

"Nn!…He's gonna fight that brain guy head on?" Midoriya grit out, crouched low int he wind.

"Whoa! They're so…fast!" Added Kirishima toppling over in the wind. Next to him Todoroki used his icy side to shield himself from the wind and Toru dug her nails into the torn ground, looking for any kind of purchase she could. The gloves she once wore, now gone, zipping passed like leaves in a storm.

Toru just happened to glance up it time to see the second Nomu rush forth in their direction, unbothered by the whistling winds around them. With a yelp Toru shot up meeting the Nomu in mid-air, the small jagged pipped she had ripped from the ground gripped tight in her fist and glowing from the heat she was pushing into the object.

It happened all in a blur, one moment she had been hunched on the ground amongst her classmates and the next she had sprung forth like a snake in the grass. When the Nomu fell backwards, lying on the ground like a dead ant with Toru on top of him, it took her a few moments to realise what she had hit.

Although she had been aiming to stop the beast, it was only when she gazed down at the beast beneath her that she found what she had actually hit. She sat with her head bowed as she bent over, clutching to the pole like a knight would a sword.

The pole in her hands slowly began to lose its glow as it cooled down and yet it was still lodged in the chest and heart of the Nomu. Absentmindedly Toru noticed that the pole itself had completely pierced the hide of the beast on both sides before becoming lodged in the ground beneath it.

From either the heat of the pole or force of the thrust, she wasn't quite sure. One thing she knew for certain though, the Nomu was dying if it wasn't dead already.

"Hagakure?" Midoriya questioned causing the brunette to look up from the beast and towards the green-haired boy.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"What did you do? Is he…?"

"Um…" Toru turned her head back to the beast beneath her, unable to meet Midoriya's questioning gaze.

"Hagakure?"

Thankfully she was excused from replying when All Might spoke up, drawing Midoriya's attention away from her and the dying beast. "You've been bested villains. Surrender now, we all want to get this over with quickly"

Tomura twitched in irritation as he realised the true strength of All Might, who even at his weakest was able to defeat the Nomu. Anger clearly written across his features, even hidden behind the multiple hands as he was.

"What's wrong? Not attacking me? Didn't you say you were going to clear this level earlier? Well come and get me if you dare!" All Might continued.

"Man, this is…intense!" Bakugo breathed.

"As I expected there's no reason for us to fight now; he'll handle this" Added Todoroki.

"C'me on Midoriya, Hagakure! We should regroup with the other guys! The last thing we want to do is taken hostage or get in his way" Kirishima called. Toru nodded in agreement but didn't move, she knew she should but something kept her there. _I-I should go…We need to regroup with…the others._ Something ingrained deep in her subconscious.

"…What? Are ya scared?" All Might taunted Tomura.

"Ugh! If only Nomu was here right now, he'd rush you and pound you into the ground without giving it a second thought!" Tomura anxiously scratched at his neck.

"Tomura please do not fret" Kurogiri soothed, "Look at him he has definitely weakened. The Nomus' attacks were successful. He's on his own, the children are frozen in fear and look our underlings are recovering. We likely still have a few minutes before their reinforcements arrive; if you and I work together we can do this, we haven't missed our chance to kill All Might"

"Yeah, yeah you're right" Tomura calked down, "This is it. We have no choice, we have to do it now. I mean the big end boss is right here"

"I think All Might can hold his own against those two main guys" Kirishima piped up, hardening his hands as the thugs who had recovered from Aizawa-Sensei's attack began to creep closer, "Let's make sure these dudes don't hurt anyone else"

"Will you be going us, Midoriya? Hagakure?" Todoroki turned back to the two still stuck in place.

While Midoriya remained frozen watching All Might, Toru nodded in agreement as she slowly rose from her position atop the beast and giving an almighty heave pulled the pipe out of the Nomu with a gut curdling squelch. She deftly spun it around in her fingers, sending little bits of sinew and blood flying as she did so before coming to stand next to Todoroki, Bakugo and Kirishima.

Toru ignored the looks she received from the boys as joined them at their side, but it was the determined shout from behind her that made her spin on her heel. Her mouth dropped open when she saw what was going on. Midoriya (who hadn't done much but stare) had launched himself forward towards the main villains with arm blazing.

However, Kurogiri and Tomura seemed prepared for this seeing as Kurogiri had activated his Quirk, placing a portal between Tomura and Midoriya, bypassing All Might altogether. Time seemed to slow as Tomura reached closer and closer to Midoriya's face, the reality of the situation setting in as shown by the expression on his face. _Did he move without thinking? Ochako said he'd done that during the exams._

And then all at once time resumed with the bang of a bullet. The bullet in question pierced through Tomura's hands which jerked back in pain. "They're here" All Might breathed as Nezu-Sensei's voice filtered out through the facility.

"Sorry everyone, I know we're a bit late but I got the teachers over her as fast as I could" Explosions ripped the land around them, destroying any attempts at an uprising from the recovering villains.

"Ah man the Pros are here, it's game over for real" Tomura backed up towards Kurogiri "Let's go home and try again-" He was soon cut off by more bullets ripping through his skin and Kurogiri enveloping his injured body. Just as he was about to escape, 13's Quirk swept through the area attempting to blast them away; but it was all for nought.

_ **That day we learned what Pros could do and what they fight against to keep us all safe. It was a revelation we weren't prepared for, but somehow we survived.** _


	11. Rule #22

_ **Rule 22: Never, ever bother Sensei in interrogation** _

"If all the Pro Heroes are gathered here then that must mean the main campus is safe. The villains attacked this facility but not the rest of the campus" Todoroki summarised as Toru dropped the bloody pipe to the ground where it landed with a clang.

A worried Kirishima sprinted over to Midoriya to help him in any sort of way that he could but was quickly stopped by Cementoss who told him to leave the injured to the teachers and return with his classmates back to the entrance of the facility.

_I hope they'll be okay._ Toru thought with a backwards glance at Midoriya who lay on the ground amongst broken limbs and a clearly exhausted All Might who was hidden beneath layers of smoke and earth. Before she turned on her heel and followed after the trio of boys as they rejoined the rest of the class outside the front of the USJ facility.

* * *

Just as the interior of the USJ facility had calmed down, the exterior was now a myriad of chaos. Sirens wailed and cops ran to and fro trying to corner off the entire property least any evidence escaped their notice.

Currently, Toru stood next to Oijiro as Detective Tsukauchi took the roll. "…16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. Everyone seems to be unharmed except for that boy whose legs were all messed up" He mused double-checking the roll in his hand as the class dissolved into little groups of conversation.

"Oijiro, I heard you did really well" Toru placed a hand of the blonde's shoulder as she spoke, "I had no idea you were so strong!"

"I didn't know I was the only one of my own. I survived by using hit and run tactics" Oijiro replied bashfully "So where did you end up?"

"The landslide zone. You wouldn't believe how strong Todoroki was! He was amazing!"

"You don't say, well, I'm just glad you're okay"

"Aren't you wondering about moi? Where was my sparkling light?" Aoyama spun around to face the group to his left who ignored his usual antics.

"…Interesting, so the people you fought were also low level thugs" Commented Tokoyami.

"Yeah! They messed with the wrong kids, huh?" Kirishima punched his own hand.

"Did you miss me?" Aoyama then turned the trio on his right who ignored him as well.

"So All Might put that hole in the dome after all. Figured" Sero huffed hands on hips.

"That was some hardcore power" Said Sato.

"Yeah, it was crazy" Agreed Shoji.

"Where do you think I was?" Aoyama asked Asui, finally confronting one of his classmates so they _had_ to answer.

"Um where, ribbit?" Asui played along.

"It's a secret!"

"Detective" Asui hopped over to Tsukauchi when he came back over, "What about Aizawa-Sensei, ribbit?"

"…The bones in his arms are splintered and he's got facial fracturing. Fortunately there doesn't seem to be any serious brain damage, but his orbital rim has been almost completely destroyed. We have no way of knowing if his eyesight will be impaired once he's healed up" Replied the doctor on the other end of Tsukauchi's phone. Apparently he had heard Asui's question when the detective had moved closer to the class.

"Well you heard the man" Tsukauchi said, ending the call.

"Ribbit" Asui choked.

"Um sir? What about 13?" Ashido came forth with Jiro and Yaoyorozu at her side.

"There's no need to worry there; despite some pretty bad lacerations to the back, 13 is gonna pull through. Good as new"

"Phew!"

"And All Might is also without serious injuries, in fact he's in the nurses' office right now. Recovery Girl's power should be all the treatment he needs"

"What about Deku?" Ochako piped up.

"What about Midoriya?" Iida translated.

"Midori-? Ah, Recovery Girl is taking care of him too. He'll be fine"

"Oh thank goodness!" Ochako breathed.

"Now, let's get you back to class"

"Okay" chorused 1-A.

Just as Toru was about to join the rest of her classmates getting back on the bus, Tsukauchi had returned and stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Sir?" She asked turning to face him.

"Hagakure Toru?" He questioned.

"Yessir"

"I need you to come with me" She let him lead her away from the bus' doorway so that the rest of the class could board.

"Sir?"

"I just need to ask you a few questions"

"…Okay" She spared a glance back the bus, "But can I get changed first?"

* * *

"Come on, this way" Tsukauchi led the way to the nurses' office once they were back at UA and Toru had had time to change back into her school uniform. Nervousness twirled in her gut and obsessive thoughts swirled in her mind as she followed quietly after the tall man. Am I trouble? Is this about the Nomu? _Oh God! Can someone just tell me what's going on! I feel like I'm gonna explode!_

When the pair finally reached the nurses' office, Tsukauchi knocked twice on the door before sliding it open to reveal the two patients and Recovery Girl inside. He motioned for Toru to wait outside while he headed in. Whether intentional or not, he left the door open ajar, just enough for the voices within to flow out into the hall.

"Excuse me, hi, it's been a while" Tsukauchi greeted walking in through the door.

"What the hell? I didn't know that _you_ were investigating" All Might spat out in surprise.

"Whoa! It's okay for him to see you like this?" Midoriya panicked, bolting upright in his bed.

"Oh yeah, it's fine. This guy's alright: Tsukauchi Naomasa my best friend on the police force. He's legit, I trust him"

"Haha, that's quite the introduction" Tsukauchi huffed a laugh as he came to stop next to All Might's bedside "Sorry to cut to the chase, but we could really use any information you might have"

"Hold on! Before all that! Tell me all the students are okay and Aizawa-er, Eraserhead and 13"

"Not counting this boy, the only student injuries were a couple of scrapes and both of the teachers are in stable conditions right now. Relax"

"Phew!" Sighed Midoriya.

"That's good to hear" Added All Might.

"…If you heroes hadn't risked your lives, the students would never had made it. You three saved that entire class of kids today" Tsukauchi continued.

"You're not seeing the whole picture Tsukauchi; those students also risked their lives, they fought as hard as us"

"Thank you" Midoriya whispered.

"I don't think there's ever been a group of first years who experience a real fight kid this so early in their training. They not only survived, they learned what it means to be a Pro. Those villains made a mistake attacking them; this class is strong. They're filled with courage and drive. Mark my words, they'll become great heroes"

Tsukauchi nodded in agreement before turning back to the door where Toru still waited, "Speaking of, come in Hagakure"

"W-What?" Midoriya yelped as All Might hurriedly tried to slide down as far under the covers as he could go (though it wasn't very far) in order to hide from the girl.

Toru quietly skirted around the detective and along the back wall before coming to stand in the between the end of the two beds. She remained staring at her feet with her hands scrunching up her skirt as she bit her lip in nervousness.

"Hagakure, wait here, we're just waiting on one more" Tsukauchi ordered, "I'm gonna go see if I can find him"

"Yessir" Toru nodded as she scrunched and unscrunched her hands as they gripped onto her skirt and she shifted back and forth on her feet. You could practically _feel_ the nerves rolling off of her in waves.

"…Hagakure?" Midoriya spoke up after a while, breaking through the silence that had blanketed the room.

"Yes?" Toru's head snapped up, her gaze landing on the two patients before her. To her left lay a heavily bandaged blonde and to her right… "Midoriya?"

"What are you doing here?" Midoriya asked.

"Um, I dunno" Toru shifted nervously as she glanced towards the door, "Detective Tsukauchi just said he needed to ask me a few questions…"

"Oh…"

"Yeah…"

Toru's eyes drifted back over to the equally nervous blonde hidden unsuccessfully hidden beneath the white bedsheets. While the man's feet hung out the end of the bed, the two antenna-like pieces of fringe poked out from the top of the bedsheet and two beady eyes followed her every move. _It almost looked like…But it couldn't be, could it?_

"Hey Midoriya…" Toru distractedly started as she tried to analyse the man in front of her, much to their dismay.

"Uh, y-yeah?" Midoriya stuttered, very much afraid of what she was about to ask.

"Are you a masochist?"

"W-what?" That was _not _what he had been expecting. Next to him, All Might stifled a laugh.

"it's just that you're always hurting yourself"

"It's not intentional! I swear!"

"I guess…Hey, what happened to All Might-Sensei?" And suddenly the stifled laughs were cut off.

"W-What do you mean? How would I know? Hehe"

"Are you kidding? He looks like someone deflated him!" Toru pointed to the blonde, now certain it was the man in question.

"T-That's not All Might! You must have him confused with someone else!"

"Does that mean he's a blow-up doll then?" Toru smirked, a tease in her tone, "Is he _yours?"_

"I am not!" All Might bolted upright at the insinuation and ultimately giving away his identity. Something which seemed to occur to him as he slumped over in defeat with pink-tinted cheeks.

"How did you even know, Hagakure?" Midoriya asked.

Toru giggled at Midoriya and All Might's matching looks of embarrassment before she answered. "With all due respect, I'm invisible not blind. Besides look at him! A stiff breeze could blow him over! It's actually kinda funny if you think about it!"

"Oh really?" Interjected a third voice.

"Eep! Karasuma-Sensei!" Toru squeaked when she recognised the voice. Her eyes blew wide and all teasing left her tone as she spun on her heel to face the familiar brunette accompanying Tsukauchi in the doorway. "I-I didn't know you were in town" Her voice seemed high-pitched even to her own ears and she winced at the obvious tone.

"I wasn't" Karasuma stated with arms crossed.

"Oh" _Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! I'm in so much trouble!_

"Sit"

"Yessir" Toru immediately plopped herself down on the end of Midoriya's bed with her skirt once again clutched in her fists and her head bowed as she tried to contain her panic.

"Right, now that we're all here let's get started" Tsukauchi stated, "Karasuma?"

"Right" Karasuma nodded, pulling out a clipboard with a series of papers that he held out to Toru, "Hagakure, you need to fill these out as much as you can. Don't skip anything"

"Yessir" Toru carefully took the papers from him with slightly shaky hands before she set to work.

"Hold on, whose he?" All Might interjected eyeing the brunette before him when he noticed the sudden change in his student.

"Ah right, this is Karasuma Tadaomi, he's one of the government agents that worked on the Kunugigaoka Junior High case last year" Tsukauchi introduced with a smile.

"Kunugigaoka huh? That's the one in Tokyo right? The one that shut down?"

"Yes, that's right" Nodded Karasuma.

"But what's that got to do with Hagakure?" Midoriya questioned.

"I was a student there" Toru replied absentmindedly as she finished the forms before flipping the page and beginning her assessment of the Nomu and its possible relation to Koro-Sensei, Shiro and his other experiments.

"Oh…hey wait! That's the brain guy, the uh…Nomu!" Midoriya looked over her shoulder at the page in her hands.

"Uh huh" She paused in her writings as a thought popped into mind. "Ah Sensei?"

"Yes?" Karasuma looked over.

"Do you know…if the other Nomu was still there?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…when I pierced its heart, I used a burning metal pipe instead of any Anti-Sensei weapons. So if I'm right, then it's probably still alive. I mean with its regenerative capabilities it has to be"

"…And you're certain about this?" Tsukauchi interjected as Toru handed back the filled-in forms.

"I can honestly say is that the similarities between them were _terrifying._ I mean with the regenerative abilities and the speed amongst other things. And granted, it wasn't as fast as Koro-Sensei, but still…"

"Thanks, we'll look into that" Tsukauchi dug around in the pocket of his overcoat as he searched for something hidden within. "…Another thing, this was found with one of the captured thugs" Out of his pocket he pulled out the object in question and showed it to her "…Do you know anything about it?"

"My ID! You found it!" Toru cheered in relief as Tsukauchi handed it to her.

"Can you tell me how one of the villains was able to get a hold of your ID?"

"Uh…" Toru felt very sheepish.

"You're not in trouble, we just need to know" All Might added.

"Uh…a couple of us jumped the wall this morning so we didn't have to force our way through the mob of media at the gates" Toru explained, "I guess I must've dropped it then… I only found out it was missing during lunch"

"Is that it? Are you sure?" Tsukauchi repeated.

"Uh huh" Toru nodded as Karasuma looked over her information.

"You said here, you were in the bathroom long enough for the alarm to go off?" He questioned.

"Uh huh"

"And what were you doing in there that took so long?" He raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"Ah-hm…girl things" She mumbled, her cheeks tinging pink in embarrassment as she ducked her head, unable to meet the eye of any of the males in the room.

"That still doesn't explain why you were in there for so long"

"…"

"Hagakure…!"

"Fine! I got my period! Happy?" Toru snapped, glaring up at the pink-tinged cheeks of the men in front of her.

"R-Right"

_"Your_ period?" Midoriya piped up confused, "Why would you have a period during lunch? Isn't that a mandatory break?"

_"Seriously?"_ Toru looked over at the genuine confusion written across Midoriya's face, "You really don't know?"

"What?"

_"Oh sweetie"_ Toru practically cooed as Recovery Girl grinned to herself in the corner and every other male in the room suddenly turned either very quiet or very flustered. _How is bleeding for a week more uncomfortable than possibly working alongside villains? Ones that destroyed a top-notch facility and gravely injured two of our Senseis? Tch, men._

_ **We had no way of knowing, but the League of Villains attack on the USJ was just the beginning. A bigger incident was on the horizon. We were just happy to be alive; to have shown that we had the potential to be real heroes, but the worst was yet to come…** _


	12. Rule #11

** _Rule #11: When the job is done, walk away_ **

**3E GROUP CHAT!**

NAKAMURA RIO HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**NAKAMURA RIO:** OMG! I just heard! Are you okay, Toru?

ISOGAI YUMA HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**ISOGAI YUMA: **Toru? Are you okay?

KAYANO KAEDE HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**KAYANO KAEDE:** Toru? Pick up! Are you okay?!

HARA SUMIRE HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**HARA SUMIRE: **What’s going on?

**NAKAMURA RIO:** One of the UA facilities was attacked!

KANZAKI YUKIKO HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**KANZAKI YUKIKO:** OMG! Isn’t that Toru’s high school?

SHIOTA NAGISA HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**SHIOTA NAGISA:** Toru are you okay?

MURAMATSU TAKUYA HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**MURAMATSU TAKUYA:** Answer the phone woman!

AKABANE KARMA HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**AKABANE KARMA:** Pick up the damn phone Hag!

HAGAKURE TORU HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**HAGAKURE TORU:** Hey guys! I’m okay!

**NAKAMURA RIO:** (^)o(^)

**KANZAKI YUKIKO:** (^ – ^)

**KAYANO KAEDE:** Yay!

**HARA SUMIRE: **Thank God!

**SHIOTA NAGISA:** ( ◠ ‿ ◠ )

**ISOGAI YUMA:** What happened? Are sure you’re okay?

**HAGAKURE TORU:** Villains ambushed the USJ, 

caught us off guard. But we’re okay, promise! 

Oh! I ran into Karasuma-Sensei too! 

**SHIOTA NAGISA_: _**Really? What’s he doing there?

**HAGAKURE TORU:** Yeah-one of the villains was 

eerily similar to Koro-Sensei; so he came to investigate.

**SHIOTA NAGISA: **What do you mean?

**HAGAKURE TORU: **It’s kinda hard to explain. 

Doesn’t even seem that real, y’know?

**AKABANE KARMA:** Glad you’re okay, Hag

**HAGAKURE TORU:** Thanks Karma.

Thanks for all the messages guys! Gotta go now!

HAGAKURE TORU HAS LEFT THE GROUP CHAT

Toru smiled at her phone as she skimmed through the other messages that 3-E had left after they had heard about the USJ attack. After the odd interrogation in the nurse’s office; where she had not only [correctly] guessed All Might-Sensei’s secret ID but been visited by a somewhat irate Karasuma-Sensei & written down as much as she could about the Nomu, she had returned home to a rather clingy pair of grandparents.

Grammy had cooked Toru’s favourite meal and then the three of them had sat down to watch _Godzilla _that had been playing on the TV that night [only interrupted now and then, by the occasional update about the USJ attack].

Flopping backwards onto her bed, Toru let her gaze wander from the glow-in-the dark star studded ceiling to the large cork board to her right which she had wallpapered in photos of family and friends. 

Hundreds of happy faces stared back at her; some in any dress while others were painted like toy soldiers. There were a couple of embarrassing ones but they were still up there despite this. Toru’s eyes drifted from the smiling wrinkled faces of her grandparents to the cartoonish expressions of Koro-Sensei & class 3-E. Then over to the beaming faces of Shiro & Tamaki with ice cream smeared across their faces and even to over to the one of her donor family. A million memories in a hundred photos.

_I’m still so far from becoming a real hero. _Toru thought as her gaze drifted, _During the USJ attack, all we really did was slow the Pros down. If it weren’t for them, we probably wouldn’t have made it outta there._

She closed her eyes as her thoughts turned a little sour. _And then there was that Nomu. Was it really one of Shiro’s experiments? _Toru bit her lip. _And why was my instinct to kill it? I’m supposed to be a hero, not an assassin! Heroes don’t kill people! Stupid!_

“Toru! Dinner!” Grammy called, cutting through her sour thoughts.

“Coming!”

* * *

“Hey you guys! Did you watch the news last night?” Toru asked, turning to Ojiro and Shoji.

“Yeah” Ojiro nodded.

“It was _so _cool that we got a few seconds of screen time, though I bet no one noticed me hanging about in the background”

“Probably not” Shoji agreed.

“Eh, it is difficult to stand out when you’re just gloves, shoes and goggles” Ojiro amended.

“We’re totally big deals. Those news channels love us, we’re basically celebrities!” Crowed Kaminari as he leant back in his chair.

“Yeah, it’s kinda crazy, right?” Kirishima replied.

"Get over yourselves. The Hero course that pumps out Pros was attacked, that’s all they care about” Jirou twirled her carjack around her fingers.

“Who knows what would of happened to us if the teachers hadn’t shown up” Sero added.

“AH! WHY’D YOU SAY THAT?! I’M GONNA PEE MYSELF JUST THINKING ABOUT IT!” Mineta panicked.

“UGH! SHUT UP! JUST GROW A PAIR LOSER!” Bakugou retorted.

“Did you guys see All Might fighting the brain guy? That guy was super strong and he still destroyed him!” Sato mimicked throwing a few punches.

“Yes, his strength is truly a thing of wonder” Tokoyami agreed.

The clock hand ticked over to 8.25am and Iida came barging into the room at top speed, “ATTENTION! HOME ROOM CLASS IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! EVERYONE STOP TALKING AND TAKE YOUR SEATS!”

“Uh…We’re already sitting” Kirishima replied.

“Yeah, you’re the only one still standing” Agreed Sero much to Iida’s embarrassment as he sank lower in his chair.

“Hey Tama, who d’ya think we’ve got as a teacher today?” Shiro asked the blonde.

“I dunno, isn’t Aizawa-Sensei still in hospital?” Tamaki replied just as the door opened to reveal a mummified Aizawa.

“Or maybe not”

“Morning class” Came the muffled greeting.

“Aizawa-Sensei?!” Chorused the class. “What are you doing here?!”

“Whoa! What a Pro!” Kaminari muttered in surprise.

“Aizawa-Sensei! I’m glad you’re okay!” Iida declared.

“You call…that okay?” Ochako questioned as Aizawa-Sensei shuffled over to the podium at the front of the class, his usual yellow sleeping bag nowhere to be seen.

“My wellbeing is irrelevant, what’s more important is that your fight isn’t over yet”

Mutters rang throughout the class at that.

“Our fight?”

“Don’t tell me…”

“Not more bad guys!”

“The UA sports festival is about to start” Aizawa-Sensei stated. 

“Ugh! Why would you scare is like that?!”

“Yes! Let’s go kick some ass!” Kirishima cried.

“Wait a second…” Kaminari cut in.

“Is it really such a good idea to hold the sports festival so soon after the villains snuck in?” Jirou continued.

“They could attack with us all in the same place” Added Ojiro.

“Apparently the administration thinks this is a good way to show that the threat has been handled and that the school is safer than ever. Plus they’re beefing up security in comparison to past years. This event is a _huge _opportunity for all students at UA; it’s not something we can cancel because of a few villains”

“Uh…I’m sorry but why not? It’s just a sports festival” Mineta asked.

_Yeah…Actually I was wondering the same thing. _Toru mused.

“Huh? Mineta? Don’t you know how important this competition is?” Midoriya asked.

“Of course I do! I just don’t want to get murdered!”

“Our sports festival is one of the most watched events worldwide. In the past, everyone obsessed over the Olympic games, but then Quirks started appearing. Now the Olympics have been drastically reduced in terms of scale and viewership; for anyone who cares about competition, there is only one tournament that matters: the UA sports festival” Drawled Aizawa-Sensei.

“That’s right!” Yaoyorozu agreed, “And top heroes everywhere will be watching. This is where you get scouted!”

“Sure, unless you’re dead” Mineta groused.

“She’s right” Kaminari agreed, “After graduating a lot of people join Pro agencies as a sidekick!”

“Yeah but that’s as far as some people go. They miss their chance to go Pro and stay eternal sidekicks” Jirou commented, “Actually, that’s probably where you’re headed. Kinda dumb”

“It’s true that joining a famous Hero agency could garner you a experience and popularity. _That’s _why the festival matters, if you wanna go Pro one day then this event could open a path for you. One chance a year, three chances in a lifetime, no aspiring hero can afford to miss this festival. That means you better not slack off on your training” Aizawa-Sensei continued.

“Yessir!”

“Class dismissed”

* * *

The rest of the day was filled with students barely able to contain their excitement about the upcoming festival as they went about their lessons. Not-so-quiet mutters at the back of the classroom or small bursts of excitement in the hallways as they mused over what might happen during the festival.

The only really noticeable thing that had happened during that time was when All Might had appeared around the corner and had invited Midoriya to have lunch with him and Todoroki’s heated gaze as he followed the pair out of the room. 

But that was about it really; at least until the end of the day anyway. With the last of the classes finally over, Class 1-A eventually found themselves trapped inside their homeroom; cornered by class 1-B.

“Um…why the heck are you all here?” Ochako demanded from the wall of students outside their classroom door.

“Do you students have some sort of business with our class?” Iida asked.

“Why are you blocking our doorway?” Added Mineta. “I won’t let you hold us hostage!”

“They’re scouting out the competition, idiots” Bakugou drawled as he shouldered his bag and stalked over towards the door. “We’re the class that survived a real villain attack; they wanna see us with their own eyes”

Bakugou stopped in front of the wall of people. “At least now you know what a future Pro looks like, now move it extras!”

“You can’t just walk around calling people extras just because you don’t know who they are!” Iida protested.

“So this is class 1-A? I heard you guys were impressive, but you just sound like an ass. Is everyone in the Hero course delusional or just you?” Shinso moved forward to the front of the pack.“How sad to come here and find a bunch of ego maniacs”

“HUH?!” Bakugou twitched.

“I wanted to be in the Hero course, but like many others here I was forced to choose a different track, such is life”

“Tch”

“I didn’t cut it the first time around, but I have another chance. If any of us do well in the sports festival, the teachers can decide to transfer us to the Hero course and they’ll have to transfer people out to make room. Scouting the competition? Maybe some of my peers are but I’m here to let you know: if you don’t bring your very best, I’ll steal your spot from right under you. Consider this a declaration of war”

Heaving a sigh, Toru shouldered her own bag and despite the front gestures of some of her classmates, moved forward to intercept the two quarrelling boys. “Alright ladies, you’re both pretty. Can you move please? Some of us have places to be” Toru sassed.

“Piss off Hagakure!” Bakugo snapped at the brunette.

“I will when there’s r_oom to move_, Bakugo” Toru sassed back, “Hey Hitoshi” She greeted the purple-haired boy.

“Toru” Shinso nodded.

“You know this freak?” Bakugo demanded.

“I know you, but you don’t seeing shouting that from the rooftops”

“HEY! HEY! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!” Interjected Tetsutetsu from the back of the pack.

Toru lazily turned to face the silver-haired boy, “_I think _that you should be _very _careful about what you say, seeing as your classmate has just declared war” You could practically feel the smirk in her tone, “After all, _all’s_ fair in love and war”

“You didn’t tell me you were in this class” Shinso muttered, redirecting the brunette’s gaze back to him.

“Now where’s the fun in that?” Toru smirked cheekily.

“Tch”

“So…if you’ll excuse me…?”

With Toru’s [teasing] words still in their minds,1-B parted like the red sea allowing the 1-Astudents inside to trickle out; with all the students setting their sights on the upcoming sports festival.

**3E GROUP CHAT!**

HAGAKURE TORU HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**HAGAKURE TORU: **Hey guys! Just found out we’re gonna

be in this year’s UA sports festival! Is anyone gonna come

cheer?


	13. Rule #26

** _Rule #26: True competition breeds character. Don't suppress it._ **

_ **The UA sports festival is in two weeks; the whole thing will be streaming live on TV. There's no doubt that whomever impresses the audience will have a much better chance at becoming a Pro Hero one day.** _

The subsequent days leading up to the sports festival were filled with training. It almost seemed like all they would do was train: before school, during lessons and after school. Countless hours were filled with laps and katas and spars.

_ **We won't know what the games will be until the first day, they could throw basically anything at us and so we have to prepare for all possibilities.** _

It seemed like the entire school was abuzz the two weeks before the festival. Each and every student seemed to push themselves harder and harder, to push their Quirks further and further to the edge. To be the very best that they could.

For Toru, she spent most of her days working on increasing her oxygen intake as she moved; something that she had always been wary about but never really approached. Sure, there had been a couple of incidents when she was younger where she had burnt through her reserves and needed to be supplied with oxygen, but nothing too drastic. Something she hoped would stay that way. But nothing ever came to those who took it easy…

_ **Days passed, all the training made the time pass by quickly and before we knew it, it was the morning of the festival.** _

"Dearie please babe careful and try not to get hurt" Grammy worried as Toru double checked her bag, making sure that she had everything she'd need for the day ahead.

"I will" Toru replied absentmindedly. _Sports gear, check. Lunch, check. Inhaler, check. Snacks, check. Water, check._

"Don't forget we'll be watching the whole thing!" Grammy smiled. "Do your best dearie!"

"Thanks, Grammy" Toru smiled.

"And kick their asses!" Gramps cheered punching the air.

"Language!" Grammy scolded.

"Thanks Gramps!"

* * *

"Aw man!" Ashido whined, "I was totally hoping I could wear my costume!"

"At least everyone will be in uniforms; that'll keep things fair, right?" Ojiro replied.

"I wonder what they'll have in store for us in the first round" Sato worried as he sat at one of the tables in the waiting room.

"No matter what they've prepared, we must persevere" Tokoyami replied.

"Right" Agreed Shoji.

"Do you think we'll be sparring? Or maybe there'll be like a race! Or maybe…" Tamaki jumped up and down in her excitement.

"You seem excited" Shiro smiled.

"I love this kinda thing!" The blonde replied, practically buzzing.

_ **SLAM!** _

The door hit the back wall as Iida returned, "EVERYONE! GET YOUR GAME FACES ON! WE'RE ENTERING THE ARENA SOON!"

"Eek!" Tamaki squealed, doing an odd little dance that amused Toru greatly. She looked like a spider on a hotplate.

"Midoriya" Todoroki stepped forth.

"Hey Todoroki, what's up?" Midoriya turned to face the taller teen. Along with the rest of the class, mind you.

"From an objective stand point, I think it's fairly clear that I'm stronger than you"

"Uh…ah yeah…"

"However, you've got All Might in your corner helping you out"

"Huh?"

"I'm not here to pry about that, but know that I will beat you"

"Ugh, what's with all these declarations of war lately?" Kaminari questioned.

"Yeah, what's the big deal? Why're you picking a fight all of a sudden?" Kirishima approached the two, "And right before we get started?"

"We're not here to be each other's friends. Don't forget, this isn't a team effort" Todoroki stalked towards the door.

"Wait a sec, Todoroki. I don't know what's going through your head or why you need to tell me you need to beat me and yeah, of course you're better than me, in fact you probably have more potential than anyone in the Hero course. That's why you got in so easily,…"

"Midoriya maybe you're being a little hard on yourself and us" Kirishima placated.

"No, he's right you guys. All the other courses are coming at us with everything we've got. We're all gonna have to fight to stand out…and I'll be aiming for the top too"

"Fine"

"Now that you two are done comparing dicks, can we go?" Toru popped between the two, efficiently cutting through the heavy tension suffocating the room.

"H-Hagakure!" Midoriya redden, jumping back in shock whilst Todoroki's eyes widened at her sudden appearance with red cheeks. A multitude of choked noises spread throughout the room at the brunette's comment and a couple of snickers could be heard as well.

"I was being serious!" Midoriya huffed.

"I know, but c'mon MIdoriya! Did you really think the rest of us were going to half-ass it?" She grinned before spinning on her heel and skipped out the door. "C'me on slow pokes! Let's go!"

* * *

Out in the arena, Present Mic happily pumped up the crowds. "HEY! MAKE SOME NOISE ALL YOU RABID SPORTS FANS! GET THOSE CAMERAS PREPPED MEDIA HORDES! THIS YEAR WE'RE BRINGING YOU SOME OF THE HOTTEST PERFORMANCES IN SPORTS FESTIVAL HISTORY GUARANTEED! I'VE ONLY GOT ONE QUESTION BEFORE WE START THIS SHOW: ARE YOU READY?!"

"Geez, he's really going for it isn't he?" Shiro muttered as the class made their way towards the centre of the arena.

"Well, he's not known for being quiet" Tamaki replied.

"Yeah, I guess…"

"LET ME HEAR YA SCREAM AS OUR STUDENTS MAKE THIER WAY TO THE MAIN STAGE! THIS FIRST GROUP ARE NO STRANGERS TO THE SPOTLIGHT, YOU'LL KNOW THEM FROM WITHSTANDING A VILLAIN ATTACK! THESE DAZZLING STUDENTS WILL LIGHT UP YOUR TVS WITH SOLID GOLD SKILLS: THE HERO COURSE STUDENTS OF 1-A!"

Toru blinked rapidly against the sudden change in lightning, before she found her eyes blowing wide at the amount of people crammed into the stands around them. _Holy shit! That's more people than I've ever even seen! _

From the sounds of the mutters from her classmates, she wasn't alone.

"Um…I didn't know there'd be so many people" Midoriya worried.

"I hope we're still able to give our best performances even with all these eyes on us. I suppose it's just another aspect to being a hero that we all have to accept" Iida commented.

"Present Mic sure did talk us up a lot, kinda makes me nervous. How're you feeling man?" Kirishima asked the blonde.

"I'm not worried, makes me wanna win this thing even more" Bakugou replied.

It wasn't long until 1-A was soon joined by the other classes. "…WITH NOT NEARLY AS MUCH SCREEN TIME, BUT THIS NEXT GROUP IS STILL CHOCK-FULL WITH TALENT! HERO COURSE 1-B! NEXT UP GENERAL CLASSES C, D & E! SUPPORT CLASSES F, G & H! AND FINALLY BUSINESS CLASSES I, J & K! GIVE IT UP FOR ALL UA'S FIRST YEAR CONTESTANTS!"

Once everyone had gathered together in a rather large clump in front of the small stage set up to the side of the field, Midnight took to the stage. "NOW THE INTRODUCTORY SPEECH!"

"Uh, someone should talk to Midnight-Sensei about what she's wearing" Kirishima muttered.

"Thanks for volunteering, Kirishima!" Toru teased.

"I didn't mean me!"

"SILENCE EVERYONE! AND FOR THE STUDENT PLEDGE, WE HAVE: KATSUKI BAKUGO!"

"Huh? He's the first year rep?" Midoriya worried as Bakugou made his way on stage.

"Guess that hot head _did_ finish first in the entrance exam" Sero agreed.

"Ha, only for the Hero course exams" Sighed a general studies student.

"Oh right" Midoriya muttered.

"That girl obviously hates us" Sero whispered.

"Yeah, and we've got Bakugou to thank for not liking our class" Karminari muttered.

Toru and the rest of 1-A could only watch on with worry as Bakugo shuffled over to the microphone with hands in his pockets and spoke boredly into it. "Hey, I just wanna say, I'm gonna win"

_Da-da-da-da-da-da, we're dead! Thanks alot Bakugou!_ Toru huffed as everyone around went up-in-arms at his…'speech'

"WITHOUT FURTHER ADO IT'S TIME FOR US TO GET STARTED!" Midnight decreed, "THIS IS WHERE YOU BEGIN FEELING THE PAIN! THE FIRST FATEFUL GAME OF THE FESTIVAL…" On the large screen behind her, the options for the different games spun around and around until it landed on one. "…WHAT COULD IT BE? TA-DA!"

"An obstacle race?" Toru read out with bright eyes. Yes! This is gonna be fun!

"ALL 11 CLASSES WILL PARTICIPATE IN THIS TREACHEROUS CONTEST. THE TRACK IS 4KM AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF THE STADIUM. I DON'T WANNA RESTRAIN ANYONE…AT LEAST IN T_HIS_ GAME, AS LONG AS YOU DON'T LEAVE THE COURSE, YOU'RE FREE TO DO WHATEVER YOU PLEASE!"

The crowd roared their approval.

"NOW THEN, TAKE YOUR PLACES CONTESTANTS!"

Over to the side, a large red archway bordered one of the corridors leading out of the arena. Several people were pushing and shoving to get to the front of the pack so as to be one of the first off the mark. Toru, found herself squished up against a couple of support students to the left-hand side of the pack and as the countdown began she knew it would only get worse from here.

_ **3, 2, 1…START!** _

At Midnight's shout everyone rushed forth, trying to cram themselves through any available hole. Unfortunately just as Toru had predicted, the tight space between the squirming bodies only got tighter as the corridor narrowed as it went on, clearly meant to thin the herds.

_Oh fuck this!_ Toru huffed when she received yet another elbow to the face. Heaving herself up the body of the closest person next to her; she, despite their protests, used them like a ladder to position herself above the crowd. Once seated upon the boy's shoulder's, she bounded forward using shoulders and heads like stepping stones as she made her way out of the corridor.

"Ow!"

"What the…!"

"Hey!"

"Oi!"

Easily moving up the pack, Toru dodged outstretched limbs as she made her forward, at least until a blast of ice quickly spread out across the landscape as Todoroki made his first move. Most were caught unawares and subsequently frozen in place. _Glad I'm not them!_ Toru shivered, remembering the feeling of being stuck in his ice. _So cold!_

Leaping from the furthest person now frozen in place, Toru landed somewhat heavily on the frozen ground, only sliding a little as she made her way over to the white picket fence lining the pathway. Once there, she easily scaled the fence and began to ran along the top of it; easily avoiding the frozen ground to her left. _As long as I don't fall off, I'm still technically in bounds!_ She grinned, running after the leaders.

"So they are good at using their powers, huh?" Shinso drawled from atop his human-made cart, "Oi! Toru that's outta bounds!" He called catching sight of the floating uniform running along the fence.

"Says who?!" Toru called back with a laugh before racing ahead.

However her joy was short lived as not only did she run out of fence, but the next obstacle had presented itself, knocking Mineta clean from the sky. "It's those robots from the entrance exam…!" Midoriya muttered from her right as almost everyone ground to a halt in front of the obstacle.

"ARE THOSE THE ZERO-POINT ROBOTS FROM THE PRACTICAL TEST?!"

"Seriously?!"

"Are they insane?!"

"Where does the school even get the funding for these things?!"

As the others exclaimed their shock at the unfairness of the obstacle course, both Todoroki and one of the zero-pointers moved as one. Swiping an arm along the ground and up into the air, a glacier of ice emerged from beneath Todoroki's palm, freezing the robot in place.

"Dude! He stopped the robot!" Someone cheered as Todoroki skated off.

"Between its legs! We can get through!" Came someone else.

Toru analysed the scene before her, trying to decide on how she'd make her next move. _No, wait! It's off balance! If you go near that it'll…_

_ **BOOM!** _

The once frozen robot creaked and groaned before slamming to the ground mere metres away from them, sending up one of the largest clouds of dust that Toru had ever seen.

"I'M ALIVE!" Kirishima burst out of the icy robot that had fallen on top of him as the other robots crowded in around them.

"I'LL SMASH THAT ICE GUY WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM!" Tetsutetsu declared, also bursting from the frozen robot with his Quirk activated.

"Man! How lucky are they? They don't have to worry about being crushed!" Karminiari complained as Kirishima and Tetsutetsu passed.

"We're racing each other, but we can team up for now and carve a path!" Rin activated part of his Quirk just as Bakugou flew overtop, using his explosions to propel himself upwards.

"Bakugou?!"

Sero and Tokoyami were not far behind him; all three easily passing over the robot in front.

A grin spread across Toru's face as the remaining robots crowded around. _Well only one thing left to do…_

"W-What are you doing?" Shiro stammered when he saw Toru's sports uniform fall to the ground.

"It's time to disappear!" Toru grinned before she took off, racing straight for the spaces between the robots' legs.

"TORU!" Shiro panicked, hand out-stretched. All around him, muttered comments arose int he crowd as they watched her trail of footprints disappear,

"Oh my God!"

"Is she…naked?"

"Oh yeah, baby!"

Toru's giddy laugh bounced back at them.

* * *

When coming up on the third obstacle, Toru noticed that the path had been set up like large stepping stones, only the spaces between each platform were far too far to jump on your own. Though each section of earth was connected by a sectioned of rope, still creating some sort of path between them.

Once again she came to a stop just before the obstacle, allowing a few others to take the lead ahead of her. As she was trying to figure out the quickest way across, she heard someone call out. "Hey! Naked girl!"

Turning to face the person, Toru found her vision suddenly blocked by a heap of cloth now sitting on her head.

"Ack!"

"Did you forget something?" Shiro sassed, pulling up beside her with the rest of her uniform in hand.

"Thanks, Shiro" Toru pulled the offending shirt off of her head.

"Just get dressed" He moved on with red cheeks as Toru did as she was told.

Without much option left and no quick trick to get her ahead of her peers, Toru just went with carefully walking the ropes like a tightrope between each other platforms. On some of the smaller gaps, she found that she could jump them with a bit of a running start, but eventually she made her way to the other side and quickly set about moving up the pack so as to claim a spot in the top 42.

Eventually Toru made it to the final obstacle, by which point most of the contestants were now picking their way across the minefield, occasionally setting one off._ Right, make it through the minefield & don't set any off! I can do this! Let's dance!_

And dance she did, moving with the grace of a gymnast, Toru easily wove in and out of the small pathways created between the mines. She'd spin on her heel here or bend over backwards there; it almost felt like she was dancing with someone, like one of those fairy tale stories where the peasant girl danced with the prince at the ball. I can almost hear the music!

It was an odd contrast really, her gracefully dancing, shaking her hips along to an imaginary waltz in the middle of a mine field. A benign minefield, sure, but still…A grin split her face as she danced, lost in her own little world.

_Hey look! A shooting star!_ Toru grinned lazily staring up at the sky as she spun, still lost in her own little world.

"What the hell?!"

"Midoriya?"

"Ha?!"

_Wait! That's not a shooting star! That's a real person!_ Toru snapped out of her daydreams to see Midoriya waving a cloud of pink as he soared above everyone else including Todoroki & Bakugou, easily taking the lead from them. What. The. Hell.

Further up the field, a second explosion lit up the end of the minefield as Midoriya seemingly struck again, easily taking the first place. That explosive finish seemed to kick everyone else into gear as they stormed forward, intent on making it through to the next phase.


	14. Rule #34

_ **Rule #34: There are times to take someone's hand and lead them along… But also times when you must be stern and let them fend for themselves.** _

_They're all…so fast!_ Toru panted as she tried to regain her breath. Coming in at 25th place, she knew that she should've worked on her speed more. _I thought I was gonna place higher than that! At least in the top 20! Why couldn't it have been cross country? Man these guys are not kidding around!_

Once everyone had crossed the finish line, Midnight took to the stage once more. "Only the top 42 will advance to the next round, but don't get too let down if you didn't make the cut. We've got other opportunities for you to shine! Now the real fun is about to begin! The chance to fully move yourselves into the limelight, give it your best! Let's see what we have in store for you next!"

Behind Midnight the options upon the screen spun again, "…Prepare yourselves for this!"

"Calvary battle? I'm terrible at those!" Kaminiari complained.

"It's not an individual event, I wonder how they'll split us up" Asui mused.

"Allow me to explain" Midnight commandeered all attention once more, "The participants will form groups of two to four people as they see fit. It's clearly the same as a regular playground game, but there is one difference: each player has been assigned a point value in association from their placing on the obstacle course. The points go up in increments of five starting from the bottom. For rank 42 the points are five and for rank 1…the points are 10, 000, 000!"

_Y'know on second thought, I'm happy with 25th!_ Toru amended watching on as everyone turned to Midoriya with hungry eyes.

"That's right! It's the survival of the fittest with those at the bottom to overthrow those at the top!"

* * *

The following calvary battle was less than desirable, even with the combined efforts of Toru and her team. Having paired with a trio of students from the Support class, the group only just scraped through.

_At least we're not Midoriya's team_. Toru mused lightly, well aware of how all the other teams had been gunning for his high value point headband. In turn, the quartet had agreed their best bet was to gather as many lower pointed headbands as possible, meaning they wouldn't have to throw themselves into the chaos around them.

It also meant that Toru's neck was practically enveloped with headbands by the time it was over as they had had to collect more than the other teams. In the end, even with all their lower numbered headbands, they had gained a score of 615.

_Outcasts are definitely more fun._ Toru grinned thinking over how they had accomplished the task. At the beginning, Toru had approached the three students from 1-H and asked them to be in a team with her much to their surprise.

They had then introduced themselves as Bumu Kasai, a blonde with a fire Quirk almost mirroring her solar one & a personality that reminded her of Bakugo on overdrive. Then there was Kinzoku Tobu, a redhead with a telekinetic Quirk who was all smiles but could still drop a boulder on you. Lastly there was Kuron Rei, a brunette who could regenerate his own cells at a rapid pace, effectively regrowing limbs in a matter of seconds.

With Toru as the rider, the quartet had employed a tactic of (underhanded) tricks such as telekinetic sticky fingers and blinded eyes to retrieve the headbands that they needed; instead of thoughtlessly running headfirst into the battle as so many of the other teams had done.

Soon Present Mic's voice rang out as he read out the current rankings to the masses. "NOW LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT WHO OUR TOP FOUR TEAMS ARE!" Present Mic screamed into the microphone, "IN FIRST PLACE:…TEAM TODOROKI!"

"Hm…we ended in first place, but it was too close for comfort" Yaoyorozu hugged herself off to the side.

"I'm sorry, I let everyone down didn't I?" Iida wallowed while Kaminari wandered back and forth like a sleepwalker.

"That's not true! You're the reason we won! Thank goodness for that special move of yours!"

"…IN SECOND PLACE…TEAM BAKUGOU!" Mic's voice rang out.

"Awe man! We were so close to first place!" Ashido whined.

"Eh, sure, but at least we're moving on. So it's all good, right?" Sero replied.

"I don't think our leader would agree" Kirishima deadpanned, looking over at the barely contained rage in Bakugou's hunched form, "Like at all"

"…IN THIRD PLACE IS…WHAT?! IT'S TEAM SHINSO! WHEN DID THEY COME BACK FROM THE DEAD?"

"Thanks for all your help" Shinso smirked, sauntering forward towards where the others were gathered.

"Cocky bastard" Toru muttered as she watched Shinso leave his team behind bearing rather confused expressions at what just happened.

"One spot left" Rei murmured with fingers crossed as the remaining teams waited with baited breaths to see who would be advancing onto the next round.

"…AND IN FOURTH PLACE IS…WHAT'S THIS?! TEAM HAGAKURE AND TEAM MIDORIYA HAVE TIED FOR FOURTH PLACE!"

"Woohoo!" We're moving on!" Tobu cheered, jumping around in excitement and giving everyone high-fives as he did so.

"…One step closer…" Kasai muttered to himself.

_That's right…one step closer to being a hero, one step closer to our dreams…_

"NOW LET'S TAKE AN HOUR LUNCH BREAK BEFORE WE START THE AFTERNOON FESTIVITIES! SEE YA SOON! HEY ERASERHEAD, LET'S GRAB SOME FOOD!" Present Mic's voice followed everyone out of the stadium as they went to eat.

"I'm taking a nap" Aizawa-Sensei drawled in return.

* * *

"Oh Hagakure! There you are!" Yaoyorozu called, coming into 1-A's waiting room where the invisible girl sat playing with the Anti-Sensei dagger in her hands as the lunch break drew to an end.

"Yaoyorozu? Jiro? What's going on?" Toru asked looking up from the green dagger in her hands. "What are you wearing?" The orange monstrosity that they wore was blinding…and that was coming from her.

"All the girls have been instructed that we need to change for one of the upcoming events this afternoon" Yaoyorozu informed her as Jiro tried to hide behind her and the other girls with them filed into the room.

"Change…into what?…That?"

"Of course" She pulled out a second set of matching clothes for the brunette, "Here, I've got a set for you too"

"What?…_What?"_


	15. Rule #16

_ **Rule #16: If someone thinks they have the upper hand, break it** _

"...Can't believe you convinced me to wear this..." Toru angrily muttered as she fruitlessly pulled on the hem of her skirt in an effort to have it rest lower than her crotch.

"C'mon Toru! It'll be fun!" Ashido cheered waving her lemon yellow pompoms in the air as the group of girls from 1-A shuffled down the hallway as the sports festival resumed after the lunch break.

"Beside you're not the only one itching to get outta this" Jiro replied.

The monstrosity in question was a rather obnoxiously orange & white set of cheerleading uniforms with the UA initials spread across the chest and paired with matching yellow pompoms that Yaoyorozu had painstakingly created for the each of them within the hour given.

"It's for the festival" Yaoyorozu spoke up with forced positivity, "We just have to grin and bear it, at least until the event is over"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right" Jiro nodded.

"...Still doesn't mean I have to like it" Toru pouted.

"...GET THOSE FOAM FINGERS IN THE AIR, CAUSE IT'S ALMOST TIME FOR THE LAST ROUND!" Present Mic's voice bounced around the stadium as the first year students returned to the pitch. "BUT BEFORE THAT, GOOD NEWS FOR EVERYONE WHO DIDN'T MAKE THE FINALS! SINCE THIS IS A SPORTS FESTIVAL, WE'VE PREPARED SOME SUPER FUN SIDE GAMES THAT EVERYONE CAN PARTICIPATE IN! WE'VE EVEN BROUGHT IN CHEERLEADERS FROM AMERICA TO GET YOUR BLOOD PUMPING!"

"...What?" Toru's face dropped at that.

"Please tell me he didn't..." Jiro whined, hiding her face in her pompoms.

"...He did"

"Who told us about this again?"

"Mineta & Kaminari"

"Of _course_ they did"

"Hold up..." Present Mic stopped at the sight of the girls of 1-A. All eyes were solely on the girls by this point and it was fair to say that there was a fair amount of drawling going on-in both the stands and on the pitch.

"What are they doing?" Aizawa-Sensei drawled.

"LOOKS LIKE CLASS 1-A ARE GOING FULL-ON FAN SERVICE!"

"WHAT?! YOU TRICKED US!" Yaoyorozu exploded, furiously waving her pompoms in the air while Kaminari and Mineta shared a high-five. "YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THIS!" Yaoyorozu collapsed to her knees in defeat while Ochako comforted her, "Ah! Why is it that I'm always falling for that little pervert's stupid schemes? I mean, I even used my Quirk to make these outfits!"

"Ugh! I hate those guys!" Jiro threw her pompoms down in a fit of rage.

"I'll say; who wants to grab a pitchfork and come help me skewer a grape?" Toru commented only half-joking.

"I'm in" Jiro replied immediately, completely serious.

"Oh c'mon guys it's not that bad!" Ashido cheered, "And we do have a little time before the finals start...and I kinda like these uniforms, so...how about we just roll with it?"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Jiro snapped.

"Wow, Mina, you've got skills" Asui commented.

"HAVE FUN COMPETING IN THE SIDE GAMES EVERYONE! AFTER THEY'RE ALL DONE THE TOP STUDENTS ARE GONNA DUKE IT OUT ONE-ON-ONE IN BID FOR THE TOP PLACE! YOU'RE NOT GONNA WANNA MISS THESE MATCH-UPS!" Present Mic screeched.

Up on the screen overhead, the afternoon's matchups were listed in an elimination-style board. All of them would fight another opponent one-on-one and if they won that match, they would then move on to the next round and fight the winner of another match. This would then continued on until one person reigned supreme.

"Aw yeah! Finally getting a chance to show what we're made of!" Cheered Kirishima, "I watch these finals every year and now I'm actually in them!"

"But wait, is it always a tournament?" Ashido questioned.

"The finals are always a one-on-one competition, but they switch it up every time. Last year it was a foam sword-fighting match" Sero explained.

"Oh that would've been fun" Toru commented.

Up on the stage, Midnight held a box of names in her hands, presumably for them to draw their lots for the final round. It was only after Oijiro and a few others opted out of the final fights due to personal reasons (mostly pride, either too much or not enough) that they were instructed on what was going to happen.

"...Then enjoy the pleasure of the recreational games before we start. The finalists have the option of participating in the side games if they wish or sitting out to prepare for battle. I'm sure you _all_ want to conserve your stamina. I'll start with the first place team..."

With all the names of the drop-outs picked out from the box, the remaining students then took turns picking out their lots. While this may have meant that a smaller number of students would advance to the final round, their were still a few who originally didn't make it through and were therefore bumped up to fill in the empty spots of the dropouts.

And so, when Toru looked up to find her name on the board, she found it there in the third match of the second bracket across from Monoma Neito, the loudmouth copycat from Class 1-B. _Well, his personality leaves a lot to be desired, but it could be worse, I suppose._ Toru mused, chewing at her lower lip in thought. _And if I advanced, I'd have to fight either Tokoyami or Yaoyorozu...Well, baby steps first, baby steps._

The screen soon flipped over to introduce the first recreational game as Present Mic's voice echoed throughout the stadium once more. "OKAY LET'S PRESS PAUSE FOR A MOMENTARY INTERLUDE! BEFORE THE BATTLES BEGIN, IT'S TIME FOR SOME SIDE GAMES! FIRST! HOW ABOUT A SCAVENGER HUNT?"

With Present Mic's voice deafening out even the boom of the fireworks overhead, Toru wasted no time in leading the pack back to the waiting rooms where she wanted to change back into her school tracksuit.

"What's wrong Hagakure? Are you okay?" Midoriya asked as she rushed passed, "Aren't you going to stay for the side games?"

"I'm fine, I just I want out of this uniform, like yesterday!" Toru called over her shoulder as she went, "...Can't believe I missed the school tracksuit so much"

"What's wrong with it?" Bakugou interjected, "It's just clothes, right?"

"Just clothes?" Toru spun around, "I've worn bikinis longer than this! It's so short!"

"Who cares? It's not like anyone can see anything anyway"

"Ah! Pervert!" Toru proceeded to slap Bakugou across the face, before storming back to the waiting room, all too aware she had left a fuming blonde in her wake.

"Oh my God! Did she just...?" Midoriya trailed off with eyes wide and shoulders tensed, "...She hit Ka-chan! And she's not dead!"

"...WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?! GET BACK HERE!" Bakugou exploded, storming after the girl.

"...At least not yet"

* * *

_ **Even though we were told to have fun, those of us in the tournament couldn't relax. Some tried to come up with a strategy, some tried to rest their bodies.** _

Back in the waiting room and once more dressed in her school tracksuit, Toru lay back on one of the benches in the waiting room as she fiddled with her Anti-Sensei dagger and waited for the first portion of the side games to end.

The way they had explained it, the first round of side games would precede the first lot of finals, then the finalists would rest while more side games would ensue. This allowed the finalists to regain themselves, at least for a little bit before they began again.

_ **There were those who prepped for the fight or tried to hype themselves up and others still who focused on trying to calm their nerves.** _

Toru chucked the green blade up into the air again, catching it by the hilt as her thoughts drifted, mindless of the looks she was receiving from the others in the room with her. Ever since the incident at the USJ, Toru had taken to keep the little green dagger on her person at all times. Sure it wasn't a sharp blade exactly, but like Koro-Sensei always said "anything can be a weapon if you polish it enough!"

_ **We wanted to be ready for anything and before we knew it, the finals began...** _

* * *

Waiting out the time until her match, Toru tried her best to calm her nerves, even going so far as to take a couple of puffs from her inhaler. The TV in the corner of the room live-streamed all events occurring in the stadium and allowed for them to see what was going on.

Midoriya had gone first, facing Shinso in a battle that had almost ended before it had begun. _Take that, ya cocky bastard! _Toru huffed good-naturedly when Midoriya somehow figured out a way to break himself out of Shinso's grip and turn the tables of the taller teen. _But of course, he broke himself. Again._

Next up was Sero and Todoroki...to be honest their battle really was over before it had even begun, not that anyone was really _that _surprised. Even with Sero taking the first hit and trying to sling a bound Todoroki out of bounds; he only got so far before Todoroki put his foot down. Literally.

With one slam of his foot, an entire _glacier_ had emerged, entrapping the tape-teen in the ice unable to move. Something that not only portrayed how powerful Todoroki was, but also allowed him the option of not permanently hurting one of his classmates. _At least he had the courtesy to melt Sero free, I guess..._

With both matches of the first bracket done and dusted, Toru knew hers was next._ Right! Let's do this!_

* * *

"WELCOME BACK TO THE FINALS EVERYONE! SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!" Present Mic bellowed, referring to the pitch now ice-free, "...IT'S TIME NOW TO WELCOME NEW COMPETITORS!"

From the tunnel across the pitch, Monoma stepped out into the sun with a smug smirk planted firmly in place as he made his way over to the stage. "...EVEN PRETTY BOYS HAVE CLAWS, IT'S THE COPYCAT HERO FROM CLASS 1-B: MONOMA NEITO!"

And from the right hand hallway, Toru emerged blinking rapidly at the sudden change in light from the dim tunnel as she made her way over to the stage that was now, thankfully, ice-free. "...AND TAKING HIM ON, IS THE INVISIBLE GIRL WITH A BLINDING PERSONALITY! ANOTHER HERO IN-THE-MAKING! HAGAKURE TORU!"

_Blinding? Really? Is that the best he could come up with?_ Toru pulled a face as she hopped over to her spot and waited for the call to begin, trying her best to ignore the numerous eyes glued solely on them plus the roaring crowd cheering in their seats.

A quick glance over her shoulder revealed seperate sections for classes 1-A & 1-B where they were seated up the front & close to the action. Off to the left, Cementoss sat in an umpire's chair and Midnight now sat on the edge of the stage with the podium at her back.

"...KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED! I WANNA SEE A SUPER FLASHY BATTLE THIS TIME! SO LET'S GET STARTED!" Present Mic declared.

"Well my dear, how about you yield and we call this a day?" Monoma suggested smugly, sweeping a hand out in front of him as if he were a Lord bowing to a Lady, "And afterwards, how about you and I get to know each other a little better, eh?"

"Are you hitting on me? Seriously?" Toru asked in disbelief, hip popped and eyebrow raised. "And me yielding? Are you out of your mind?"

"Well, a lady such as yourself could never dirty her hands, so why not stop before things go any further?" Monoma walked forward until the two were practically pressed against each other. Once there he gripped her chin between his forefinger & thumb, forcing her to look at him and activated his Quirk, "Unless...you want it to go further?"

Toru furrowed her brows at the feeling of his Quirk; it kinda felt like what a photocopier looked like if that made sense. When it dawned on her what he was doing, she reacted purely out of instinct. Instead of pushing herself away as most would have done in her situation, she reached up and threaded her spindly finger through his outreaching hand. With a quick flick of her own hand, Monoma was pushed into a pronating wristlock that had him cowering beneath her fingers.

Clearly this was not what he was expecting nor anyone else in fact as not only did the whole stadium seem to freeze, save for the whimpers of pain falling from the blonde's lips. "Ow! Ow, ow, ow" Monoma complained as Toru twisted his wrist further, extending the hold up his forearm until the arm in her grip was locked in place, having reached maximum rotation.

With pain written clearly on his face and shoulder locked in place at the maximum rotation, Toru proceeded to frog-march the blonde down towards the other end of the field with him whinging and complaining the entire way. "Ow, ow! Hey! Let me go!" Monoma wriggled in her tight grip, but was unable to get out.

"Stop squirming" Toru scolded as is she were talking to a child.

"LET ME GO!"

"Just walk it off, walk it off" Toru pushed him closer to the end. She refused to loosen her grip on him even as her copied Quirk shuddered through the blonde like a glitch. One moment he was visible and the next he was not; like the continuous shutter of a camera, he would appear and disappear from sight.

"I PROMISE THIS GETS WORSE FOR YOU, SUNSHINE!"

"Sure" Toru twisted his wrist further, making Monoma cry out in pain "Whatever you say"

Soon enough the pair had reached the other end of the field and Toru wasted no time in pushing him over the white line first. With a not-so-gentle shove, she pushed the prideful blonde out of bounds and quietly turned to the Senseis on the sidelines where they waited for judgement.

"...AND MONOMA'S OUT!" Present Mic's voice broke through Toru's wheezing breaths as she tried to regain her breathing again, "HAGAKURE WINS!"

* * *

On the way back to the waiting room, Toru was stopped by a few classmates who had been milling about as they waited for their turn; many with questions and accusations that pounded at her skull as she tried to pass. Thankfully she was saved by some very familiar well-wishers. "That was some takedown, Hag, of course I could've done better"

Toru lit up at the familiar drawl, spinning on her heel at the sound. "Karma! Nagisa! Kayano! It's so good to see you!" She beamed, launching forth to wrap her former classmates in a hug. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to cheer you on of course!" Kayano grinned, "Did you really think we wouldn't? Even Ritsu's here!"

"Hey Ritsu!" Toru waved to the AI on Kayano's phone.

"Hey Toru! Good job with blondie!" Ritsu chirped flashing a peace sign.

"Speaking of which, why didn't you end it quicker? You could've taken that guy out easy and be done with it" Nagisa spoke up, his snake-like eyes held a questioning gaze.

"Ah, well, y'know me and crowds...not so great with the spotlight and all that..." Toru trailed off, rocking back and forth on her heels as she spoke; "Anyways, what are you guys doing after this? Do you wanna hang out and catch up or something?"

"Sounds good" Kayano replied before either Nagisa or Karma could refuse.

Toru had never felt so happy.


	16. Rule #1a

_ **Rule #1a: Never screw over your partner** _

Following her battle, Toru visited Recovery Girl in the infirmary to reluctantly apologise to the overly dramatic Monoma for the possible dislocation of his shoulder, and slight burns on his wrists, before she returned to watch the rest of the battles with her classmates.

Slotting herself in the row behind Bakugo & Kirishima which would ensure that a) no one would come near them & b) everyone's attention was focused on the fiery blonde. It was here that she was able to essentially hide from her classmate's questions as they watched the rest of the battles for this bracket play out. _I'm such a coward._

Next up, Kaminari vs Shiozaki ended with Kaminari wrapped in the very vines he tried to electrocute and Shiozaki (a student from 1-B who literally wore a crown of thorns) walked away scot-free.

Then there was Iida vs Mei, a student from class 1-H who was decked out from head-to-toe in mechanical combat gear that she proudly advertised whilst she fought. Despite the funny get-up he wore, Iida still won due to Mei stepping out of bounds.

Then Ashido vs Aoyama, where the pitch was consumed in French taunts and acidic slime before Ashido eventually moved in to take her victory from the blonde. Next Tokoyami easily took advantage of Yaoyorozu's aptitude to over think and pushed her out of bounds before she could even hit back.

Kirishima fought against Testutesu and with such similar Quirks, there was really only one possible outcome. It was the second draw of the day and unlike hers, their draw would be decided through a Quirkless challenge.

And the final fight of the bracket was Ochako vs Bakugo, which on paper was a horrible mistake from the start. And although Ochako had improved in both mind and body, she still couldn't outdo Bakugo in the end.

With the first bracket fights done, it was on to the second round of side games and this one was shaping up to be one humdinger. In an effort to wheedle down the numbers (there were more contestants than the senseis had planned for), before the second bracket began, a series of tag team battles had been set up.

With random selection, Toru and Asui were paired against Monoma and Kasai; only this time the battle was set up very similarly to the hero vs villain battle that 1-A performed at the beginning of the year. Monoma and Kasai had been cast as the villains with Asui and Toru as the heroes; only this time around the exercise decreed that the villains held one of the heroes hostage and the other had to rescue them.

_Can't believe I drew the short straw!_ Toru whined as a very smug and recently healed Monoma tightly bound her in ropes and dangled her from the ceiling of the temporary building (courtesy of Cementoss) where she hung like a weird chandelier. Down below her, Kasai stood centre stage, hidden in the lower scaffolds scattered around the place as he waited to confront Asui when she came to 'rescue' Toru from the two boys.

"Oi!" Toru hissed as Monoma tugged on the already tight ropes.

"Oh calm down, it's not like its _dislocated _or anything" Monoma sniped.

"I already apologised for that, you big baby" Toru lazily swung around in a circle, "Not my problem if you can't dodge properly"

"YOU DISLOCATED MY SHOULDER!"

"When are you gonna let that go?"

"Oi! Pretty boy! Get down here!" Kasai called up to the blonde, his hands cupping his mouth, "We're about to begin"

"Right!" Monoma chirped before making his way down to the ground floor.

From her vantage point, Toru was able to watch as Monoma greeted his partner before going to wait outside for Asui and ambush her as planned. However with the chirp of the bell signalling the start of the game, Asui easily moved around Monoma (who had stolen her solar Quirk _again)_ and threw the blonde out of the ring before he could even open his mouth.

Hopping inside, Asui cautiously looked around the large spacious room in search of her partner before Toru let out a quiet cough and the two girls locked gazes with each other. Before Asui could move any further however, Kasai reappeared with guns blazing.

_This isn't good!_ Toru worried as she continued to circle above the two, _Tsu's no good with heat! Let alone this much! I need to do something!_ Down below Kasai wasted no time in overwhelming the frog girl with his fire power; the next few moments blurring together as Asui was easily overwhelmed by the ferocity of the boy's punches and the blazing heat emanating from him.

_What the hell is his deal?! _Toru though angrily, hands gripping tight to the ropes binding her, _Why the hell aren't the teachers doing anything? If he keeps going like that he'll kill her!_ Toru's anger reached its peak when Asui let out a painful scream as she curled around her broken leg, and she begged for him to stop, yet Kasai rained down fiery punches on her.

_Oh that it is it! _Throwing aside the rules of the game, Toru allowed her solar Quirk to activate and flow through her arms where it easily burned through the roped binding her to the ceiling. With Asui's cries of help in her ears, Toru flew on solar-powered feet straight for the boy below her. Nothing else mattered, he had hurt her friend, he had to pay. Like an owl on the hunt, Toru dove from the sky with eyes locked on the fiery boy.

Fuelled by her emotions, the once controlled solar flares now flicked around her ankles like molten, licking at her legs like an energetic puppy. It all happened so fast; one moment she was bound and watching her friend get beaten black & blue and the next flesh met flesh as her fiery foot connected with the back of Kasai's head and in turn the floor beneath them.

"Are you alright, Tsu?" Toru asked, standing a little far away from the shocked frog girl who now sat leaning against one of the concrete pillars with her leg clutched close. It all seemed to hit her at once as Asui suddenly burst into whimpering tears.

"Tsu?" Toru tried again, taking a step forward to comfort the girl. However before she could go any further, who should rise from the smoke but Kasai.

"You bitch!" Kasai cried, his punch sending Toru flying across the ground before she was able to get her feet under herself and skid to a stop.

"TORU!" Asui cried.

"I'm okay!" Toru replied.

"Not for lo~ng!" Kasai sang as he rushed forth and launched a fiery punch at Toru's stomach, this time pushing the brunette onto her back.

Thinking fast, Toru swung her flare encrusted feet in Kasai's direction, making him stumble in his charge. Taking advantage of this, Toru launched herself into the air and quickly came down on the blonde who didn't take the knee to the face lightly. The two grappled for a moment before they were slammed to the ground with Toru wrapped in a familiar snake-like grip around Kasai's left arm.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Toru demanded as both of her feet lit up, "This is just a game! Why are you trying to kill her?!"

"Just a game, huh?!" Kasai quickly switched their positions around so that he leered over her with a fiery fist holding her down. "Maybe for you it is! But these games are gonna turn me into A HERO!"

His second fiery fist came barrelling towards her face and was only just caught mere centimetres away. In this position, not only could Toru see the sparks flickering above the flames and the smoke invading her nostrils, but she could also feel the heat emanating from his one fist. Below her, Toru felt the ground give way a little at the force of the punch, cracks formed in the ground and a small crater cradled her short figure.

"A hero huh? Heroes don't KILL PEOPLE!" Toru retorted pushing herself out of his grip with solar-powered feet. Spinning around like a breakdancer a few times not only allowed for her create some space between the two, but also kick the blonde away from her. _Take that you crazy bastard!_ Toru smirked when her foot met flesh.

The two teens jointly rose to their feet and stared the other down as they waited for the next move; a quick glance over her shoulder showed Asui still stationed where she had fallen, only now she had taken off her school tracksuit jacket and had used it to create a makeshift splint for her leg.

"I will not allow some two-faced bimbo to ascend over me!" Kasai declared with fists clenched at his sides.

_Forget what I said, I'm gonna kill him!_ Toru snarled at the blonde before her, allowing her emotions to take control. This time when the solar flares consumed her, they _fully_ consumed her. Running from the tips of her fingers to her gnarled little toes, even her eyes became enveloped in the solar light, blocking out any sign of sclera or pupil. She really did look like a solar flare.

"Shut _up_ already, you hot-blooded _son of a bitch!"_ Toru snarled her eyes locked on her opponent, mindless of the shocked gasp falling from Asui's lips. The time for control had passed; there was only one way this fight was gonna end and he was not gonna like it.

"This isn't too much trouble, just another bitch to burn, really" Kasai taunted his own fists lighting up in fire as he too lost control, "Come at me bitch! I'll burn you to the ground!"

Toru launched forward, answering his call with a solar-powered knee to the arm and smoke billowing behind her. _Shit!_ Toru hissed flying up to grip onto one of the windowsills decorating the wall behind Kasai where she sat for a moment, her burnt tracksuit and knee smoking from the hit. _He's packing some real heat! I barely touched him and he burnt my knee!_

Letting go of the wall, Toru free fell towards the ground and the smirking blonde; once she landed a quick solar kick was fired up at the blonde, easily kicking him up into the air. Once done, she followed after him with a quick succession of fiery spinning kicks, each landing a hit on him as he was pushed further and further into the air.

"Ugh! You bitch!" Kasai launched a powerful blast in Toru's direction, one that was only just grazed the girl's heels as she rocketed up and out of the way of the blast, straight towards the ceiling.

"What's the matter? Look's like you missed me!" Toru taunted, positioning herself right above the blonde now falling back to the ground. For a split second, Toru hung from the ceiling like a bat before she pushed herself off and rocketed down towards the blonde below her. _"You_ only know how to fight at ground level, but _I_ can attack from _anywhere!"_

Kasai's eyes blew wide when he connected gazes with the glowing form of Toru rocketing towards him with foot raised above her head. In an effort to protect himself, Kasai raised his arms in front of his face meeting the solar-powered kick full-on.

The power emanating from Toru was so powerful that he could barely believe it, it was like this small girl had harnessed the power of the sun itself and attacked him with it. She wasn't a girl at all, she was _a monster. _These thoughts flickered through his head as Kasai quickly met the ground once more, only this time it was he who formed the earth-shattering crater in the ground and the smokey aftershock that blanketed the ground floor.

Choked gasps fell from Kasai's lips as he tried to regain what breath had been knocked out of him. In turn, a now flare-free Toru gently landed on the ground at the edge of the large crater and bent over with her hands on her knees as she panted harshly, fighting against the black spots that were dancing in her vision.

"Toru? What's going on? Are you alright? Asui called when the smoke began to dissipate revealing the brunette's hunched form as she swayed slightly in place.

"…Y-yeah…I-I think I…over used…my Quirk…I feel…kinda lightheaded…I think…I overheated…" Toru panted, glancing over at her friend as she awkwardly hopped over to stand next to the brunette

"Well, I think you got 'im" Asui joked, looking down at the crater where Kasai still lay.

"Y-yeah…are…are you okay, Tsu?" Toru questioned, concerned.

"Yeah, thanks to you" Asui smiled as the sound of the audience outside finally filtered in along with Present Mic's overwhelmingly loud voice as he announced their victory.

"That's good" Toru smiled tiredly as she sank to her knees and gave in to the darkness just as she watched Midnight and the healer bots rush inside.

* * *

"Nngh…" Toru groaned as she finally came too. The first thing she noticed was that she was cold and wet, the next was that something was fit snugly over her nose and mouth. Finally peeling her eyes open, Toru found herself submerged in a partially melted bath of icy water and her concerned friends standing over her.

"You look like shit, 'Toshi" Toru grinned shivering slightly as she shifted to pull of the oxygen on her face.

"Could say the same thing about you, Hag" Karma piped up from her right where he stood with arms crossed next to Nagisa and Kayano. In the bed behind them, Midoriya lay with both arms bound and one leg in a splint. There was even a bandage on his cheek. "So much for staying outta the spotlight, eh?"

"Hehe, well y'know me…" Toru laughed sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"How are you feeling?" Kayano questioned as her eyes roved over the tired form of the girl before her.

"F-Fine, c-cold" Toru shivered again. To her left, Shinso also let his gaze rove over the cold brunette, but unlike the others he didn't say anything just pulled his lips down into a disapproving frown. That was okay though, Toru knew Shinso wasn't much of a talker anyway.

"Well that's what you get for overusing your Quirk" Recovery Girl bustled over, pushing her way through the crowd surrounding the bathtub to get to her patient. "Fever's gone and temperature's down…" Recovery Girl muttered as she slapped a cold wrinkly hand against Toru's forehead and shoved a thermometer in her mouth. "…Heart's fine…" A stethoscope was shoved against her scarred chest as the nurse listened to her heartbeat, "…How are you feeling, dear?"

"G-good, just a little c-c-c…ACHOO!" Those gathered at the end of the bathtub had to quickly duck out of the way when she sneezed as her Quirk had accidentally activated. In quick succession she had set herself alight, before dissipating into sparks that danced over her body and the water, before she fired to beams of light from her eyes like lasers.

"Sorry" Toru sniffled when she saw the two new holes now decorating the wall of the temporary nurse's office.

"It's fine dear, now out you get" Recovery Girl shuffled back over to Midoriya, no doubt to lecture him and his scrawny mentor who stood beside him. When the check-up was done, the boys were ushered away so that Kayano could help Toru out of the bathtub and back into her school tracksuit which was thankfully still mostly in one piece.

* * *

"So what did I miss?" Toru asked, leaning her chin against Nagisa's shoulder as he gave her a piggyback towards the class stands. Shinso had returned to his class stand earlier, and Midoriya & All Might were being lectured by Recovery Girl back in the nurse's office when they had left.

"Well, after the tag team battles ended, Midoriya went against Todoroki and lost" Kayano replied, walking backwards in front of the trio.

"Really?" Toru perked up.

"Yeah, Todoroki lit up like a candle"

"What? He used his fire? But he never does that!"

"Yeah, anyway that engine kid?"

"Iida?"

"Yeah, anyway, he won against Shiozaki; just pushed her outta bounds. Tokoyami beat Ashido and Bakugo and Kirishima were fighting last we saw"

"What about Tsu?"

"Tsu?"

"The frog girl?"

"Oh! She's fine! The nurse healed her up real quick"

"Good"

"C'mon if we hurry, we can still catch the last of the battles!"


	17. Rule #2

_ **Rule #2: Always wear gloves at a crime scene.** _

Toru wasn't really sure how she had ended up here-well of course she knew how, she just couldn't quite believe it even now. It hardly seemed real. All around her, the hustle and bustle of the hospital cafeteria goers-both patient and practitioner alike-were nothing more than dull white noise flitting through her ears.

Even the unusually awake Aizawa-Sensei, emotional Mr Lee and rather patient Dr Miwa who sat to her right discussing what would happen to the victims (their patients/students/children) over breakfast, had faded to nothing more than a droning buzz.

Shock seemed to have blanketed Toru as she sat there, still in her ragged pyjamas from the night before. The neckline of the oversized smiley yellow t-shirt she wore had slipped off of one of her shoulders to reveal the series of plasters and bandages decorating her skin.

Then there was her octopus pajama pants that she wore underneath; they were splattered with an assortment of blood & mud mostly around the hems, which in turn flopped over her dirty socked feet and hid her Anti-Sensei dagger tucked away there. Absentmindedly fiddling with the assortment of food on her plate, Toru allowed her thoughts to wander over the passed couple of days.

* * *

In the days following the Sports Festival a few things happened; Bakugou won overall (ironically much to his irritation and despite his 'speech' at the beginning of the festival) and Iida (who had placed joint third) had suddenly disappeared due to unknown family issues. UA had also declared a compulsory break for the following two days for rest and relaxation.

After the excitement of Todoroki and Bakugo's fight, Toru had practically slept away the rest of the festival, drooling onto Asui's shoulder and probably snoring in her ear, much to the brunette's embarrassment. The next day, she had caught up with Karma, Nagisa and Kayano; the three of them spending the day just hanging around the city and eating their hearts out until they each had to return home with promises to keep in touch.

And then yesterday on their second day of rest, both she and Tamaki had agreed to a girls only sleepover, much to Shiro's disappointment. Toru smiled when she remembered how Shiro had replied that he "…could be one of the girls!" in a high squeaky voice that had sent the two girls into a fit of giggles.

Tamaki, laden with her things and goodies for tonight, had followed after Toru as she led the way through the maze that was her apartment complex. Unlike the other apartment blocks that were popular around the area, this one was set out in a three story-type set-up that zigzagged around the large wooden archway and garden that stood in the centre of the courtyard.

A few benches were littered here & there and a couple of basics like hopscotch or four square, were printed on the ground. All in all a rather normal apartment complex, at least that's what it looked like upon first glance, but if you took the chance to look closer you would see all the chinks in the armour.

From the dusty old security system bordering the property that was never in use or the seemingly oddly-placed drain beneath the wooden archway in the middle of the courtyard. To the dark dry patches of unknown substances patch-working the concrete and ghost-like aura that seemed to follow all the residents.

Even the residents themselves seemed a little…odd. Like the sunken beady eyes of the old man in C14 who watched people pass though the blinds on his window, occasionally licking his lips and caressing the window like he was a hungry animal trapped in a cage.

Or the sluttily dressed women who wandered up and down the mangy hallways, towing countless men after them like prizes they'd won at the fair. Faces caked with make-up portrayed sultry looks of cunning and ambition as they lead their prizes away in sky-high heels.

Then there was the clusters of grungy teens that were typically scattered around the complex who were always watching you through thick layers of smoke and alcohol. No manner of low-riding jeans and oversized hoodies could hide their true intentions however, not that they ever tried to of course. This was their training grounds and you'd be hard-pushed to kick them out.

The rundown complex definitely wouldn't be winning any kind of awards any time soon, but then again what kind of Yakuza grounds weren't infested in some way or another? It was true that the Yakuza gang were running low on members and power at the moment (something that her grandmother was ever thankful for) however that didn't seemed to deter them as they used the various apartment complexes (such as this one) as hunting grounds for new recruits.

Those who were stupid enough to speak out against them soon found themselves with a reply that probably didn't want. Like Shinral Nori from B21 who had his tongue cut out after he had pestered the wrong person with too many questions. The poor man was just lucky that it hadn't been initiation day, then he would have been in deeper shit.

Though if you lived there long enough, you soon became aware of the unofficial schedule and rules that the gang had set up. You had to learn the rules fast; it was either that or suffer the fates far worse than death.

Despite all of her complaints, Toru found that she couldn't really picture herself living elsewhere. This was her home whether she liked it or not. Moving back to live with her parents in Tokyo seemed like a far off dream now; not because she didn't like Okutama, but because when you lived in a place where Quirks were widely accepted, people tended to forget about places that didn't.

Sure Okutama was a nice place, lovely and welcoming to most; but it was one of the few places that leant more in the favour of the Quirkless. Which y'know was fine and all, but some of the residents could take their opinions a little too far, Toru could count the number of times she had felt like she had been the victim of a witch hunt in that little town. The incident with Koro-Sensei hadn't really helped things either.

But back to the events at hand, when Toru and Tamaki had eventually hauled themselves up to Toru's apartment on the third floor of the complex, the scene they had arrived to was less than pleasant to say the least.

Instead of being met with cherry greetings from her tiny grandmother or the good-natured grumbles of her grandfather; the pair were met with the sight of a small body hanging by their neck from the doorway that led to their bedrooms. It was the brunette's grandmother and she had a tag tied around her ankles.

Her slumped form dangled and swung slightly in the breeze created by the open doors leading out onto their small balcony. All around them the apartment looked like a small tornado had torn through it, tearing up everything in its path.

Papers and books were strewn about the place, furniture was upturned and the little figurines that lined the mantelpiece had been shattered to pieces, scattered about the place like colourful china snowflakes.

Mindless of Tamaki's choked gasp from behind her and with lips pressed firmly into a line, Toru picked her forward through the wreckage and moved towards her grandmother, intending to free her from her hold. Tears slightly blurred her vision but she furiously blinked them back as muscle memory overtook emotion.

"…W-Who is that?" Tamaki stammered shuffling into the room, stopping just inside the doorway. "What happened here?"

"…I-It's my grandmother" Toru sniffed, gently untying the tag tied around her grandmother's ankle which simply read: _TRAITOR_ in fancy cursive and letting it flutter to the ground. "Looks like she bothered the wrong person"

"Should…should we call someone? Like a-a cop or something?"

"Don't bother…" Toru moved back over to the kitchen counter where an abandoned butter knife lay amongst the mess and moved back over to extract the corpse from where it hung. "…No cop's gonna willingly come out here. It's not like they care about us anyway"

"What…what about a teacher? Like Aizawa-Sensei or All Might-Sensei?" Tamaki's voice was muffled by the sleeve she had shoved over her mouth in an attempt to keep her nausea at bay. "Toru? How are you so calm about this?"

"…"

"Toru? Toru? What are you doing?" The blonde followed the brunette's movements as she hauled her tiny grandmother over to one of the coffee table which was miraculously still in one piece and lay her atop it before turning to the blonde with a steely look in her tearful eyes.

"I'm gonna go see if their still here or if my grandfather is okay. I want you to stay here and call Aizawa-Sensei and tell him what's going on"

"What! Don't leave me! What if they come back? I don't wanna be alone!" Tamaki cried, more upset at being left with a dead person than the prospect of any villains still lying in wait.

"Uh…here, take this" Toru handed Tamaki a large kitchen knife, "You'll be safer here in the kitchen; if they really are still here then they're probably hiding in one of the bedrooms or something"

When that didn't seem to reassure the blonde, Toru proposed another idea, "If you want, you could hide in the pantry until I come back" She gestured to the small walk-in pantry on the other side of the kitchen counter where the wooden door lay slightly askew on its hinges; "…But I need to see if my grandfather's okay. Okay?"

"…Okay?" Tamaki nodded, shuffling further in the room and began to pick her way through the mess on the floor as she slowly made her way over to the pantry in the corner. Leaving the blonde to edge her way through the kitchen, Toru drew on her courage and swiping a pair of utensils from the bench, made her way into the hallway leading to the rest of the apartment.

Moving silently, Toru made quick work of searching every nook and cranny that someone could be hiding in but found nothing. _My room, check. Grandparent's room, check. Laundry, check. That only leaves the en suite and the bathroom by the front door._

When she reached the door to the en suite, Toru found that unlike the rest of the rooms this one was locked tight. Rattling the handle a little and giving the door a bit of a shove, she thought that something might be blocking the door on the other side. "Gramps?" Toru called loud enough to let her voice carry through the wooden door, "Gramps? Are you in there? It's me, Toru"

"…B-Brat?" Her grandfather's stuttered reply sounded tired.

"Yeah Gramps, it's me. Are you okay?"

"Think so. Helluva headache though"

"I've just gotta check one more room, okay? I'll come tell you when it's okay to come out"

"Get those sons' of bitches! You put those killer lessons to use, ya hear me? Make 'em pay!" He growled, his mood suddenly taking a turn.

"Whatever you say, Gramps" Toru smiled slightly as she turned on her heel and made to return to the main room where Tamaki was hidden.

That was until a high-pitched scream echoed throughout the apartment, followed by the sounds of struggling and ended with sudden silence as something heavy hit the ground. Racing out into the main room, the new scene that Toru laid her eyes upon, shattered the logic containing her emotions.

There was a tall teen standing over the form Tamaki; his lecherous grin stretched across his face as he peered closer at the blonde whose head looked like it had caved in with the force of whatever he had hit here with. When the teen had moved to undo his belt, Toru moved too.

"NO!" She shouted catching the teen's attention just in time for him to see the glowing fork which was headed on the warpath straight towards him.

"AGH!" He roared stumbling backwards and clutching to his face as the fork buried itself deep into his right eye. Blood seeped from between his fingers and the slight smell of burnt flesh began to permeate.

The next few moments were a blur, like a wounded animal calling out for help, once hidden gang members seemingly popped up out of nowhere with the intention to avenge their colleague. No sooner had the newest additions appeared, had the second utensil flown towards an outstretched hand, burying itself hilt-deep in the teen's palm.

Next she moved with snake-like movements, her palms glowing in the dim apartment as she moved from teen to teen, injury one and maiming another; doing anything to keep them down. When Toru was sure that the teens wouldn't be an issue any more, she quickly made her way over to Tamaki's limp body.

_Oh thank God!_ Toru breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the blonde's chest was rising up and down, if only in small increments. Blinking back more tears, the brunette quickly set about calling her homeroom teacher, thankful that she had thought to put his number on speed dial as well as the fact that he had given it to them not long after the USJ incident as a precaution.

_"…Hullo?"_ Drawled the familiar tone of Aizawa-Sensei on the other end of the line. Heaving a sigh of relief, Toru replied.

"Sensei? It's Hagakure, I need help…"

* * *

After all family members and other emergency contacts had been alerted to what was going on, the remaining occupants had been rushed to the hospital to treat their wounds. Thankfully, Toru hadn't received too many wounds-and even then they were mostly superficial; Tamaki on the other hand…

Dr Miwa had said that she had taken a serious hit to the back of the head, one that had not only dented her skull upon impact but had caused her some serious pain. She had been rushed away to surgery not long after arriving and they had needed to place her in a medically induced coma to help with the pain, one that they had had to keep her in since…Or at least that's what Toru had been able to understand from the long medical spiel.

In turn, Toru's grandfather had suffered more from shock and slight PTSD as well as the grief that had settled over him when the weight of what had just happened seemed to sink in. _I suppose watching your wife getting murdered would do that._ Toru mused.

When Tamaki's family had arrived along with Shiro, she had been met with stony silence and steely gazes. It was clear that they blamed her for what had happened, so much so that a hysterical Mrs Lee had taken out a restraining order against Toru; one that she only found out via the cop who had interviewed her once she was cleared.

And then there was Shiro, instead of being concerned for her wellbeing or worried about her, rage had burned in his eyes when he shoved her up against the vending machine in the quiet hallway. He paid no attention to yelp of pain nor discomfort clearly shown on her face when he declared quite loudly, that he wanted nothing more to do with her. That they were no longer friends, that she was no better than a villain and that he would be transferring classes.

Tears and guilt had flowed freely when the taller brunette had eventually let her go and she had slumped to the ground hugging her knees to her chest as she finally let it out. Snot mixed with tears as she flickered out of visibility, folding into her need to disappear, using her Quirk like the security blanket she had created it to be.

That had been a couple of hours ago, now she sat here poking at the rice and chasing the boiled carrots around her plate while the adults discussed what to do not too far away. It had been agreed that Aizawa-Sensei would take her in for a night or two whilst things were further sorted out; technically speaking she could've stayed with Hitoshi's family as they were the closest thing she had to other family, but there had been concerns over further attacks.

"…Toru?" A gentle voice called. Glancing up from the plate she hardly touched, Toru saw that it was Hitoshi who had appeared before her. His ragged appearance suggesting that he had just rushed out of bed, what with his oversized cat-print t-shirt and violet bedhead standing up every which way, looking very much like Aizawa-Sensei in that moment.

Stumbling from the bench upon which she sat, Toru quickly launched herself at the brainwasher, clinging onto him like koala would a tree and buried her face in his shoulder as the tears flowed once more. Arms encircled her back, hugging her close as her legs wrapped around his waist. "Please don't leave…" She whimpered, tightening her hold on him.

Hitoshi tightened his hold too.


	18. Rule #50

_ **Rule #50: Names have power** _

_ **In the days after the Sports Festival ended, we recovered from our injuries and then our normal classes started right back up again.** _

Any child will tell you that seeing a teacher outside of school is just…weird, but living with one? That was a whole other kettle of fish, one that Toru still couldn't seem to wrap her head around despite the quick routine that she and Aizawa-Sensei had easily fallen into.

While both typically quiet people, it was much easier for them to keep to themselves in whichever corner of the room that they had commandeered at that time. It didn't hurt matters that Aizawa-Sensei had his own clowder of cats roaming the place.

Currently, Toru sat curled up in one corner of the saggy couch with her back pressed against the armrest and her head and knees tucked into the back cushion, effectively hiding her from view as she methodically stroked the large black maine coon purring in her lap and fluffing up her black bike shorts.

A gentle smile graced Toru's lips as the aptly named, Kuro gently kneaded the front of her school shirt with both front paws; alternating between the two as he softened her (undone tie) up. "Mrroow!" Chirped Momo, the ginger tom wedged in between her right side and the back of the couch as he rolled over as much as possible to reveal his fluffy golden tummy.

And up above them, on the top of the back couch cushions sat Toshi, a rather chubby tabby shorthair that had rather happily nestled into the pleats of her undone school skirt and underneath her grey school vest. _Those are gonna need a shave before I put 'em on._ Toru mused, aware that the dark green skirt and grey vest were probably covered in cat hair already.

There were also two more cats that just enjoyed roaming around the apartment, Kenta a munchkin cat that was splattered in patches of brown & white and Hinata, an impossibly fluffy ragdoll. Both were probably still curled up with Aizawa-Sensei in his room as Toru had yet to see any of them that morning. _Y'know it kinda makes sense that Aizawa-Sensei is a cat person,_ Toru mused as Kuro purred louder and stretched out further along her chest, _I mean if I didn't know any better, I'd say he had a cat Quirk or something._

Despite her best efforts, Toru couldn't help but let her thoughts drift back over the events of the last few days and what it meant for her now. As of yesterday, Lee Tamaki had been declared to be stuck in a coma (medically-induced or otherwise), Uraraka Shiro had disowned her as a friend due to her involvement in Tamaki's injuries, her grandmother had been brutally murdered because she pissed off a Yakuza brat and finally her grandfather had found himself enrolled into a retirement home much to his dismay.

_BZZT! BZZT!_

With great reluctance Toru extracted her hand from where it had woven itself in between Kuro's fur and she leant over to pull out her phone from the front pocket of her bag that sat on the ground next to her. Clicking the screen on, she thumbed through the numerous game and social media notifications until she reached the message from Ritsu alerting her about the trains that were operating this morning.

_BZZT! BZZT!_

Clicking on the newest notification, Toru noticed that the next message was from Hitoshi.

_GROUP CHAT_

_GRUMPY: Where r u? Hurry up, I'm hungry!_

_SPARKY: Calm done Grumpy, I'm just shaving my uniform_

_GRUMPY: ?_

_SPARKY: :P_

"Guess it's time to go" Toru pocketed her phone as she carefully extracted both herself and her now furry uniform from beneath the content felines before moving to collect her things and headed out the door to meet the impatient telepath outside.

_ **Well, some things were different…** _

Rain pelted down, hammering the umbrella covered people as they wandered down the streets on their way to work or school. Large billboards mounted on skyscrapers and small TVs hunkered away in corner stores showed the highlights from the most recent UA Sports Festival; most notably those who made it to the finals or who were awarded medals.

A few heads had turned their way as the pair had walked through the rain towards UA; though Toru figured that had more to do with the cat ears atop her cutesy umbrella or her seemingly floating uniform, than anything to do with the Sports festival.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Hitoshi asked as the two shook off their wet umbrellas and stored them away in their seperate cubbyholes once they had arrived at UA.

"Y-yeah, I think so, I-I mean I guess" Toru stammered dreading the walk to the classroom and facing her peers. _What will they say? Will they still like me? Will they blame me? And that doesn't even take into account what happened at the festival!_ She fretted, worrying the end of her braids as she did so.

"Are ya sure?" Hitoshi turned to her, fully facing her, "Cause you're ghosting again" He gestured to her invisible figure that seemed to rapidly shimmer with the slight increase in body temperature.

"Y-Yeah…I mean it's only school, right? Only a couple of hours…"

"If you say so…"

* * *

The walk up to the classroom seemed to take both forever and no time at all; guilt ate away at her and her stomach felt like it had dropped to her leaden feet. Standing before the large classroom door now after everything that had happened…it was felt very much like her first day all over again. _Only, now you've got no friends…_ She winced.

Taking a deep breath, Toru gently pushed the door open and slid inside, avoided Ochako's gaze as much as she could and quietly made her way over to her seat. Now nestled amongst spare chairs, Toru tried to hide herself further (despite already being invisible) as she pressed her back to the classroom wall, making sure to keep all her classmates within her sights.

Despite a few odd looks here and there, no one really stopped her to ask why she was shimmering far more than noraml; instead far more focused on the bubbly conversations they had been caught up in when she had arrived.

Besides, Toru doubted that anyone within her class (besides maybe Bakugou) would openly attack her right there and then, still she felt safer with the wall behind her. Even then, Toru couldn't help but self-consciously count the possible exits from the room as she subtly fiddled with the slightly frayed end of the bandages still wrapped around her hand.

Around her, snippets of conversations drifted around the classroom from her classmates as they gossiped like old ladies at a bingo tournament. "…It's _so_ weird that people recognise us from TV! Everyone wanted to talk to me on my way here!" Chirped Mina.

"Yeah, me too!" Kirishima replied.

"You won't _believe_ what a bunch of elementary brats on the street yelled at me!" Sero piped up.

"Nice try?" Asui guessed.

"Ahh!"

"All it took was one Sport's Festival and suddenly we're like celebrities!" Kaminari happily commented.

"This school really _is_ amazing!" Mineta chirped.

Thankfully the door then slid open to reveal a recently bandage-free Aizawa-Sensei looking no worse for wear as he greeted the class and shuffled inside. "Morning"

"Good morning, Aizawa-Sensei!" Chirped 1-A as they all quickly filed into their own seats.

"Ribbit, Aizawa-Sensei you don't have bandages anymore. That's good news, right?" Asui noted.

"The old lady went a little overboard in her treatment" Aizawa fiddled with a strand of hair, "Anyway before we get started; as some on you will have noted we're missing a couple of students" Only Ochako and Toru seemed to known what was going on as the others swivelled in their seats, counting heads as they did so. "Both Lee Tamaki and Uraraka Shiro will no longer be apart of 1-A"

Questions and comments sprung up from the class as Toru sunk further down into her seat, unable to meet anyone's gaze, who didn't even know of her involvement in the incident but that didn't matter. Guilt weighed Toru down as she tried her best not to collapse on her desk in a bundle of tears once more; thankfully Aizawa-Sensei quickly skipped over the topic and onto the day's lesson plan.

_"Moving on;_ we have a big class today on hero informatics" Aizawa-Sensei cut through the ceaseless chatter, bringing the class back to attention.

_Aw crap! Informatics? Was there supposed to be a quiz today?_ Toru fretted, thankful for the sudden change in topic.

"…You need codenames, time to pick your hero identities"

_…Eh? That's not what I was expecting! _Toru huffed in relief whilst the majority of her classmates cheered, _Though I suppose it makes sense; what's a hero without a name, anyway?_

"…This is related to the Pro-Hero draft picks that I mentioned last time" Aizawa-Sensei continued once scaring the class back into their seats, _"…Normally_ first year students don't have to worry about the draft yet, but your class is different. In fact, by extending offers to first years like you the Pros are essentially investing indoor potential; any offers can be rescinded if any interest in you dies down before graduation, though"

"Stupid, stubborn adults!" Mineta slapped his desk at the thought.

"W-Wait, so you're saying is that we'll still have to prove ourselves after we've been recruited?" Toru piped up.

"Correct" Aizawa nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly on her invisible form, "Now here's the total for those of you who got offers"

On the board behind him a list of names and offers were displayed on the screen. At the top sat Todoroki with 4,123 offers, then Bakugou at 3,556, Tokoyami at 360, Iida at 301, Kaminari at 272, Yaoyorozu at 108, Kirishima at 68, Uraraka at 20, Sero at 14 and finally Toru at 7._I-I…I got…offers? But they had to be judging off of my tournament fight! And let's be honest, it was crap! Maybe…maybe they liked the tag-team battle more?T_oru's eyes drifted over to Asui's seat where the frog girl was happily conversing with her neighbours, _But then again, we didn't really do any teamwork…stuff. I just went, well, batshit._

"…Despite these results you'll all be interning with Pros, get it? Even those of you that didn't get any offers" Aizawa-Sensei lectured.

"All of us?" Midoriya perked up.

"Yes, you already got to experience real combat with real villains during the attack on the USJ facility…"

_Some of us more than others…_Toru winced.

"…But it'll still be helpful to see Pros at work up close and personal, in the field, first-hand"

"For that we need hero names!" Mina chirped.

"Things are getting a lot more fun!" Cheered Ochako.

"…These hero names will likely be temporary…" Aizawa-Sensei warned, "…But take them seriously or else-"

"-You'll have hell to pay later!" Midnight cut in with a snap of the sliding door.

_Geez, she could give Bitch-Sensei a run for her money!_ Toru mused as her eyes grazed over the rather sensual outfit that the Pro was kitted out in. "…What you pick today could be your codename for life; you better be careful or you'll be stuck with something utterly indecent!"

_That's ironic!_

"Yeah…She's got a good point" Aizawa-Sensei sighed, "Midnight is going to have final approval over your names; it's not my forte" _What is his forte? Sleeping?_ Toru thought as Aizawa-Sensei climbed into his grungy yellow sleeping bag and slumped down at the front of the class, already asleep before his head had hit the ground.

"…The name you give yourself is important; it helps reinforce your image and shows people what kind of hero you wanna be in the future. A codename tells people exactly what you represent, take All Might for example" Midnight smoothly took over.

_What would be my hero name?_ Toru thought as she fiddled with the whiteboard pen in her hand and stared aimlessly at the small whiteboard in front of her as if it would yield some type of answer that way. _What do I want to embody? What kind of hero do I want to be? Geez! These are deep questions! Why not throw in the one about life after death? Or why do dogs sniff butts?_

Absentmindedly Toru recognised that Midnight had all but demanded that someone go first to present their idea(s) to the class; something that easily set her (and the rest of the class) on edge. _Oh my God! These guys are gonna be staring right at me! What if they laugh? What if they think my name is stupid? What if, what if what if…?_ Studiously she continued to scrawl ideas onto her board as Aoyama got up enough balls to go first._ What about Inviso? Lightbulb? Or…Sparkles? Sparky?…Okay now I just sound like I'm trying to name a dog. Why am I so bad with names?_

Up the front, Aoyama stood tall with his board proudly facing outwards as he read off his idea, "Hold your breath for… _The Shining Hero: I Cannot Stop Twinkling!_ Mon amie, you can't deny my sparkle" He declared.

_…Seriously? Then again, why did we expect any different?_ After a quick correction from Midnight Aoyama's name was shortened to _The Shining Hero: Can't Stop Twinkling!_ Next was Ashido whose board read _Alien Queen!_ That one was quickly vetoed for being too scary; then Asui presented hers: _The Rainy Hero: Froppy!_

After Asui's cute codename was given the tick of approval, Kirishima declared his to be _The Sturdy Hero: Red Riot!_ and Jiro's was _The Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack!_ Shoji's was _The Tentacle Hero: Tentacole!_ Sero chose _The Taping Hero: Cellophane!_ Ojiro's was _The Martial Arts Hero: Tailman!_ Sato went with _The Sweets Hero: Sugarman!_ Mina settled on _Pinky!_ and Kaminari chose _The Electric Hero: Chargebolt!_

Yaoyorozu went with _The Everything Hero: Creati!_, Todoroki and Iida simply used their own names, _Shoto_ and _Tenya_ (respectively). Mineta picked _The Freshly Picked Hero: Grape Juice!_ Koda's was _The Petting Hero: Anima!_ then Tokoyami declared his to be _The Jet Black Hero: Tsukuyomi!_ and Ochako nervously showed the class hers as _Uravity!_, a clever combination of her Quirk and name.

Both of Bakugou's options of _King Explosion Murder!_ and _Lord Explosion Murder_! were denied vehemently much to his dismay. Which left Midoriya with his as _Deku!_ A sweet twist on an old bullying insult typically thrown his way.

Which left Toru still nervously chewing on her bottom lip as she stared at the final name she had written on her board. "And finally, Hagakure? Do you have one?" Midnight asked.

"Uh, I think so…" Toru murmured as she quietly made her up to the front of the class, well aware of all the eyes on her back as she made her way up the aisle and focusing far too much on not tripping on outlying bags and limbs.

All right let's rip the band-aid off…Standing in front of the podium at the front of the class, she turned the whiteboard around in her hands to show her peers the words written there: _The Stealth Hero: Prism!_


	19. Rule #24a

** _Rule #24a: When backed into a corner, the first order of business is assessing your options_ **

After the ‘naming ceremony’ as it had been unofficially dubbed, the class broke for a couple of minutes as Midnight and Aizawa-Sensei recollected the items from the activity allowing for the students to muck around for those few minutes. In that short time frame, Toru chose to use it hiding it in the bathroom where she tried not to psych herself out; inevitably this is where Ochako found her.

_It’s okay, you’re okay. _Toru splashed water onto her visible face for the nth time since arriving in the small bathroom. _Your bandages are all in order, no one’s suspicious about your activities over the break. You’re okay, no one knows. It’s fine…_

“Toru? Can I talk to you? Toru?” Called Ochako’s voice as she entered into the small bathroom not long after. What she found however was not what she had expected…Disarray was the first word that came to mind. Leaning over one of the few sinks with the tap still running; Toru stood with both her vest and shirt undone, leaving her bound chest & arm on display, dark and heavy bags had formed under her eyes and she stood tense, watching Ochako like an animal backed into a corner.

“Toru? What…happened?” Ochako asked tentatively.

“…” Toru didn’t reply but unbidden tears had gathered in her eyes and she looked to be on the verge of crying.

“Toru? Please, tell me what happened. Shiro won’t say anything and I just wanna help” She tried again.

“…The-There was a break in” Toru sniffed after a moment of silence, the tears started to roll down her cheeks “…T-Tamaki got h-hurt…my-my grandmother…d-d-died…and-and Sh-Shiro said…Shiro said he didn’t…didn’t wanna be my friend anymore”

_“What?”_

“I-It’s…it’s all my fault!” Fingers clenched hair as Toru’s head fell into hands and she shamelessly wept, “I-if I ha-hadn’t…left her…alone then…she’d-she’d…still be okay!”

“Toru…” Ochako wasn’t sure if she was referring to her grandmother or Tamaki, but either way, she pulled Toru into her arms and held her close.

Toru’s arms immediately wrapped around Ochako’s shoulders as she buried her head into the girl’s shoulder and quietly wept. No more words were exchanged as Ochako gently rocked the pair side to side in a soothing motion, gripping tight to her injured classmate; occasionally the pair would turn as if slow dancing to some unheard tune.

Toru’s fists clenched tight to the back of Ochako’s shirt as she shuddered with each intake of breath and small sniffles escaped her lips.“…Please don’t hate me” Snot mixed with tears when Toru whined into Ochako’s shirt, the low keening sound pulled at the gravity girl’s heartstrings.

“Okay” Ochako whispered, tightening her hold on the other girl she made a mental note to talk to her brother later that day.

Toru wasn’t sure how long the two had stayed in the bathroom as she broke down in her classmate’s arms, but soon enough the door opened once more to reveal Midnight in all her sensual glory.

Slowly pulling her tear-stained face from Ochako’s shoulder, Toru could only meet Midnight’s concerned gaze for a moment or two before she broke away and buried her face back into Ochako’s shoulder as if doing so would hide her from the world.

“Midnight-Sensei?” Ochako questioned, turning to face the R-rated hero, “What is it?”

“The break’s over” Midnight stated coming far enough into the bathroom to let the door swing shut behind her as she stood in the scene before her, “Is everything okay?”

“Um…” Ochako glanced down at the girl in her arms, “…can we have a minute?”

“Don’t take too long”

“Okay”

No sooner had Midnight left the small bathroom, did Ochako move into action. Gently pushing Toru out of her arms, she quickly moved to button up the girl’s shirt, making sure not to snag any of the bandages as she did so. Toru had never felt more like a child as Ochako redressed her in her school uniform, methodically going from the shirt to her vest and then wiping away her tears & runny nose before turning off the running tap.

“C’me on, Toru, let’s back to class” Ochako held a hand out to her, palm up.

“…O-Okay” Toru took the offered hand and the two exited the bathroom hand-in-hand like it was the most natural thing in the world.

* * *

“…Now that everyone’s decided on their hero names, we can go back to talking about your upcoming internships” Aizawa-Sensei lectured, “They’ll last for one week and as for those of you up on the board, you will chose from among your offers whilst everyone else will have a different list. You have _a lot _to think about, there are around forty agencies across the country that have already agreed to take on interns from your class; each agency has their own specialty”

“Imagine that you were Thirteen” Midnight continued, “You’d want to choose an agency that focuses on rescuing people, not fighting villains. Understand?”

“Think _carefully _before you decide”

“Yes sir!” Chirped 1-A.

“Turn in your choices before the weekend”

“We’ve only got _two _days?!” Cried Sero.

“Yeah, so you should start now” Aizawa-Sensei dismissed the class as he and Midnight retreated to the staff room for lunch.

* * *

** 3E GROUP CHAT! **

HAGAKURE TORU HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**HAGAKURE TORU: **Hey guys, could use some advice.

KAYANO KAEDE HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**KAYANO KAEDE: **?

**HAGAKURE TORU: **We’re supposed to be interning for a

week & I’m having a hard time choosing

**KAYANO KAEDE: **Well, what are your options?

**HAGAKURE TORU: **I’ve only got a couple of offers

SHIOTA NAGISA HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**SHIOTA NAGISA: **Well, what are they? Do they say anything?

**HAGAKURE TORU: **I’ve got three talking about improving

self-image, two talking about building confidence, one about

going back to basics and another about improving control

**SHIOTA NAGISA: **What do you mean about “back to

basics?”

**HAGAKURE TORU: **I assumed by the agency, they mean

my fighting skills

**KAYANO KAEDE: **Well c’me on! What’s the agency?

**HAGAKURE TORU: **The Endeavour Agency

NAKAMURA RIO HAS JOINED THE GROUP CHAT

**NAKAMURA RIO: **YOU GOT AN OFFER FROM THE

ENDEAVOUR AGENCY?!?!

**HAGAKURE TORU: **Yes?

**NAKAMURA RIO: **HE’S THE NUMBER TWO HERO!!!

**HAGAKURE TORU: **So…?

**KAYANO KAEDE: **Rio’s got a point; he’s gotta be

number two for a reason, right?

**SHIOTA NAGISA: **Plus he’s got that fire Quirk.

He could help you with your light one.

**HAGAKURE TORU: **You do make a pretty

good point, thanks guys ( ◠ ‿ ◠ )

**NAKAMURA RIO: **( ^ Ꮂ ^ )

**SHIOTA NAGISA: **( ◠ ‿ ◠ )

**KAYANO KAEDE: **( ᗒ ᗜ ᗕ )

HAGAKURE TORU HAS LEFT THE GROUP CHAT


	20. Rule #27

_ **Rule #27: There are two ways to follow someone. First way: they never notice you, second way: they only notice you** _

Monday morning, two days later, Toru found herself arriving at the Musutafu train station much earlier than she would've liked. Business men and women rushed about in fine suits and pencil skirts as they raced through the large archways behind her, intent on making it to the right platform in time. Occasionally, an early student would wander by, some were dressed in sports uniforms while others wore exhausted expressions splattered with stress.

_Hmmm...What do I want? What do I want?_ Toru mused to herself as she browsed the rows of vending colourful vending machines lining the back wall of the train station foyer. After gathering her things the night beforehand, Toru had left Aizawa's apartment earlier than needed as she planned to get breakfast from that quaint little bakery on the corner on the way to the station. _Too bad they'd been closed due to flooding._

Moving from the fire-engine red vending machine to the dirty white one in front of her, Toru absentmindedly took note that a couple of her classmates had arrived early as well. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that a bedraggled Ochako had practically fallen asleep against the pole she was leaning against and a brooding Iida was standing stiffly off to her side. Though whenever someone would look in their direction, or made to walk over to them, Iida would stare them down until they squirmed away.

_Playing big brother even when's got that stuff going on with his own brother. _Toru's lips turned up at the corners as she watched the scene play out several times over. Though thoughts of Ingenium's brutal attack and death soon sobered her thoughts.

Not too long after the Sport's Festival, it had been revealed to the public that a new villain had arisen, one whose threat level made even the Pros wary. It wasn't until Toru had been sitting in the hospital cafeteria that she had heard what had happened.

Apparently Ingenium, Iida's big brother, had been attacked in Hosu city, Tokyo. The person responsible already had a rather long rapt sheet, one that had already included the murderers of seventeen heroes and injuring twenty-three so badly that they were beyond recovery. He was considered by many to be a stain on the Pro community, hence his villain name: Stain, the hero killer.

"Heya Sero! Are you ready?" Called Mina's bright voice as she imitated a gameshow host; pulling Toru from her dark thoughts. Glancing over her shoulder, the brunette noticed that by this point a lot more of her classmates had arrived at the meeting point and they were really only waiting for the last few stragglers and Aizawa-Sensei.

_I should hurry up...Ooh! Chocolate milk!_ Toru perked up, happily slipping in the correct change and pressed the sequence of buttons tp acquire her desired beverage. _Ooh! Bonus! _Toru mentally cheered when an extra milk dropped in behind her other one, _Aww! It's strawberry!...Maybe someone else wants it?_

Hauling her school bag/travel bag over her shoulder after she pocketed the free strawberry milk she then hefted the large hero costume case under one arm and set off for the chattering group of her peers, all the while sipping on her carton on chocolate milk.

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long for Aizawa-Sensei to arrive with a large cup of steaming coffee clutched in one hand and his signature yellow sleeping bag poking out of the top of his backpack, nor the last of the rather tired stragglers who eyed his coffee with envy and longing.

"Everyone has their costumes, right?" Aizawa-Sensei drawled, "Remember, you don't have permission to wear them out in public yet and don't lose them or anything"

"Got'cha!" Cheered Mina, practically buzzing in excitement.

"Speak properly, it's _'yes sir'_, Ashido"

"...Yes sir" Mina grumbled, instantly slumping over in embarrassment at the scolding.

"Make sure you mind your manners with the other heroes during your internships. Now get to it"

"Yes sir!" Chirped 1-A before they dispersed, going their seperate ways.

"Aah, are you going this way as well Todoroki?" Toru asked the boy as both teens boarded the same train, busy though it was.

"Yes" Todoroki nodded, taking a hold of one of the straps hanging ceiling, "I'm interning with my father"

"Endeavour, right?" Toru asked as she looked forlornly at the straps too far out of her reach, and instead settled for bracing her feet wide enough for her to keep her balance as the train moved. Though with the rush hour crowd already on the train, it wasn't much and no sooner had the train begun to move did she lose her balance and crash into Todoroki with a small yelp.

"Sorry, sorry" Toru apologised profusely as she removed herself from the boy's chest where she had collapsed.

"...It's fine" Todoroki muttered, though he appeared to be trying to wash the startled looking off of his face, "Why don't you just hang onto the straps?"

"...I can't reach them..." Toru muttered, swaying slightly as the train turned a corner. Instead of replying to her comment, Todoroki simply grabbed her glove-covered hand and placed it on his forearm (the one that wasn't holding the strap) much like a gentleman would do in a period movie.

Toru didn't have time to question the taller boy's actions as the train lurched to a stop causing her to grip tight to the boy's sleeve in order to stay upright.

"...Thanks" Toru murmured as she hid her invisible red-tinted face in the fuzzy woollen scarf she'd worn that morning; thankful that the two had managed to stay upright. Todoroki nodded again, clearly not relying on his voice not breaking as his own red-tinted cheeks seemed to practically glow in the crowded train car.

* * *

Arriving at the Endeavour agency HQ with a suddenly withdrawn Todoroki at her side, Toru couldn't help but stare up at the large skyscraper engraved with a huge cursive 'E' on its exterior. _Well,...someone's got a big ego..._

"Hagakure, let's go" Todoroki stood by the front door waiting for her to catch up.

"Oh right" Toru jogged over to join him as he held open the door for her. Compared to the sleek exterior of the building, the interior was very swanky.

Cream and copper-accented walls led the eye around the lobby; from the black leather armchairs crowded around coffee tables off to the right, to the many conference rooms encased in glass towards the left, as seen through the narrow hallway leading there. And in the centre of the lobby stood a large slab of granite atop the receptionist's desk where the fiery-looking modern art backlit the tiny woman perched behind her computer.

Readjusting the strap over her shoulder, Toru heaved a breath of courage and strode forth to the front desk with Todoroki following silently at her heels. "Welcome to the Endeavour Agency, how may I help you?" Drawled the tiny woman, who popped her bubble of gum in their faces before slowly chewing it again. The lopsided name tag on her breast read: Chisoe Sumire.

Toru shifted uncomfortably as Chisoe's leering gaze roved over both herself and Todoroki.

"Uh hello" Toru began somewhat affronted by this woman's blatant rudeness. _So much for customer service...!_ "...We're here for the internships, the ones with UA High"

"Names?" _POP!_

"Uh...Hagakure Toru and..." Toru turned to Todoroki whose withdrawn expression hadn't changed since they'd entered the building.

"...Todoroki Shouto"

At the sound of his name, the young receptionist suddenly perked up, in both attitude and appearance. Clearly she had had no idea that this was Endeavour's son.

"Well, then, _Shouto_ just make your way up the stairs and head straight down the hall. He's expecting you" Purred the woman, batting her eyes at the teen as she leant far too far forward revealing the small amount of cleavage bursting from her too tight blouse.

Todoroki simply nodded his thanks as he grabbed Toru by the wrist and pulled her after him, already knowing where to go despite the directions. As the duo left the lobby, Toru caught a glimpse of Chisoe glaring after the brunette like she'd stolen the limelight, though when she thought Todoroki was looking, had gone back to acting the flirty girl. _Slut._

* * *

That evening, Toru sat curled up on the bed provided as she stared out the 70th floor window in which her dorm room was located. The residential rooms of Endeavour's agency were located on the 70th-77th floors, with the entire top floor designated to Endeavour himself.

Room 70F had been the dorm that Toru had been assigned to when she had arrived and was about the size of a standard single dorm room and coloured with the same cream & copper accents that were present throughout the building.

One single bed, one small desk, one set of drawers and several coat hooks and shelves mounted on the wall were the only things that took up the room. The room itself would've felt cramped if not for the wall-to-wall window that ran lengthways along the back wall where her bed had been pushed underneath.

Upon arriving at the room and having been presented with the card key; Toru had messily scrawled her name, Quirk & who she was interning under onto the laminated sign stuck to the front of the door. The purpose of this was so that if anything ever went wrong, they knew who within the agency to contact and what kind of Quirk they might be dealing with.

Across the hall, Todoroki had occupied a similar room. Though he (obviously) lived not too far from the agency; for the purposes of the internship he had to reside at the agency for the entirety of the week-long internship unless given special permission to do otherwise. Toru understood it to be some sort of security measure in case something went wrong; that way at least they knew where everyone was supposed to be.

_Well, that was...an experience._ Toru mused as she chowed down on the steaming pot of instant ramen in her hands that she'd nicked from the floor's small communal area at the end of the hall. _Who knew Endeavour was really just a fiery asshole? Geez! Even Bitch-Sensei's first impression was better than his! And she'd given no fucks about telling us how much she really didn't like us!_

Meeting Endeavour in person —in the full-fledged fiery hero gear— Toru had at first felt the intense heatwave that was emanating from the man before seeing why the heat was so intense. Endeavour's typical hero costume consisted of a body-hugging navy blue bodysuit lined with red stripes and orange flames that streamed across his chest, upper torso, arms and shoulders.

The flames also formed some sort of makeshift mask around his face, kind of like a five-pronged crown that erupted from his brow. The tall boots he wore had been engulfed in flame as well, making it hard to decipher if they were made from fire or just encased in it.

The costume was tied together with white cage-styled bracers strapped around his lower arms and a blue belt with a couple of pouches situated on either hip. The way Endeavour had puffed up when she and Todoroki had entered his office, had reminded Toru of an owl or a cat that puffed itself up to look bigger when threatened.

The 'interview' had consisted mostly of Endeavour expressing his desire to mould Todoroki into his 'perfect self' now that he had accepted his flame side and to follow in his father's footsteps (and possibly) become the number one hero ahead of himself and All Might. _Sounded like he was trying to make the perfect little soldier..._

Toru slurped her noodles as she recalled how Todoroki had spat back into his father's face how he was his own person, how his Quirk—both ice and fire—was his own and that there was no way he was going to follow in his father's footsteps. By Endeavour's expression, it seemed to be one of the first times Todoroki had finally stood up for himself...and it wasn't appreciated.

Not too long after that Endeavour had deemed to take notice of Toru and had merely dismissed her by saying that she would be spending the week interning under the hero Matchstick. Meeting Matchstick in comparison to Endeavour had almost given Toru whiplash at the sudden change in attitudes between the two men.

Matchstick appeared to be a younger hero, clearly only just recently graduated in the last couple of years; which explained his lack of public image and age. Toru hadn't really met many fire Quirk users and so her only other real comparison to him had been Endeavour and Todoroki (kind of).

Where Endeavour had extruded power like it was sweat upon his brow, emanating from his very Quirk, attitude and appearance; Matchstick was a much more subdued hero at least until he opened his mouth. The man, much like his namesake, had a rather lanky but wiry build that leant itself more to speed and flexibility than power, his long red hair had been pulled back into a top knot with the sides buzzed down to dark fuzz and was paired with a tiny triangular soul patch like an arrow pointing downwards on his chin.

Matchstick had explained that due to his Quirk, Flare, he had a tendency to set himself alight which in turn essentially turned him into a walking ball of molten fire. Due to this, his costume had been rather minimalistic; only really consisting of a pair of ashen grey firemen pants that cut off at his calves with the hems & suspenders lined in a reflective material.

There had been a few things—aside from his appearance— that had stuck out to Toru when she had first met the young man. The first being that he was an incorrigible (but harmless) flirt; even granting her several nicknames (such as Sparky, Spitfire & Lil' Lady to name a few) during the short timeframe that they had known each other.

The second thing she had noticed was that his temperature had run higher than normal; he had been unnaturally warm & slightly sweaty when he had pulled her in for a welcoming hug and lifted her clear off the ground where she dangled in the air like a young child. Not only that, but he smelt strongly of smoke and something burnt. _But of course, that's probably because of his Quirk..._

_All in all it's been a pretty good first day._ Smiled Toru placing her empty pot of noodles on the nightstand as she watched the stars glitter and the shrunken moon wane high above the city's skyline. _Let's see what tomorrow brings!_


	21. Interlude: Matchstick

Matchstick—more commonly known as Haruno Kaaru—sat draped over one of the old futon sofas in the common room with a large steamy mug of tea in one hand and a couple of sheets of paper in the other. Long polka-dot pink pyjama-clad legs were propped up on the weathered coffee table and loose red curls were brushed aside so he could read the words on the page better.

Only a single lamp was on in the common room, illuminating him in a single spotlight that stood out against the darkness of the rest of the room. Occasionally a beam of light would flicker on in the hallway as someone quietly padded towards the bathrooms or to grab a glass of water/midnight snack before they retreated to bed, still half asleep. Although darkness clung to every corner of the agency building, the first peeks of the morning sunrise could be seen poking out from behind the city's skyline and casted the grey buildings in a hazy glow.

Eyes flickered back to the page in his hands and he began to read the rather feminine looping scrawl written there.

** _Name: _ ** _Hagakure Toru_

** _Quirk: _ ** _Prism_

** _Abilities: _ ** _Invisibility (outside of UV light) & H_ _eliokinesis_

** _Hero Name: _ ** _Prism_

** _Internship: _ ** _The Endeavour Agency_

The first page contained the internship form of Hagakure Toru where she had been required to fill out her civilian name, hero name, Quirk & its applications and which agency she would be interning under. _Nothing too out of the ordinary…_ Kaaru mused, _Decided to use the name of her Quirk as her hero name—little unoriginal but it fits._

Slurping on his tea, Kaaru thought back to yesterday's introduction to the young girl when she had arrived along with Endeavour's son for the internship. Right off the bat, Kaaru knew that he would be saddled with the girl, even without anyone saying anything; if only because Endeavour only had eyes for his prized son. _One who seemed to be growing some balls, finally._

When Kaaru had first laid eyes on Toru, a few things had stuck out right away. First was that while she had revealed during the Sports Festival that her invisibility was clearly a mutation Quirk, it was the use of heliokinesis part of her Quirk during the tag-team battle that caused a bit of an uproar amongst the crowds. There was also how easily she was able to disarm the blonde during her first battle. _Clearly had some sort of previous training…_

Next had been how she'd held herself with an air of surety tinged with anxiety (or as far as he could tell via the floating uniform and darting eyes). She appeared confident in her choice of agency, stating that she wanted to work on her fighting skills—close combat mostly and her control of her light Quirk. _Didn't want to touch on the tournament fight too much, though…_ Kaaru tiredly ran a hand through his hair as his eyes trailed down the page, _Didn't want to talk much at all, actually._

Moving down the page, the form then asked if there was any queries, concerns or notes that the applicant had—usually this bit was left blank, unless an intern was especially anxious or tenacious; however Toru had filled out the box with a bit of an odd request.

Usually when questions were asked, they leant more towards asking if they could continue the internship after it had officially ended or even demanded advice to further themselves in their career. Instead Toru had requested one evening off to attend the wedding of a family friend, stating that when she had originally RSVPed, she hadn't known about the internships or what they would entail. _Gotta remember to bring that up at some point…_

* * *

"EURGH!" Kaaru jumped awake, rolling from his place on the couch to the faded carpeted floor where he landed with a thud—apparently he'd fallen asleep at some point early that morning. "What was that for?" He whined, slicking back his now soaking wet fringe from where it had plastered itself to his face.

"Heya Sparkles!" Greeted Kamiji Moe—more commonly known as the Pro hero, Burnin—far too full of cheer for so early in the morning. "C'me on! Rise and shine, sleepyhead!"

"Whaddya want, Kamiji?" Kaaru hauled himself to his feet as he shuffled over to the kitchenette where he placed his now empty cup and wrung out the water lodged in his papers.

"Don'tcha have a lil' flare to teach today?" Kamiji practically climbed into the fridge as she searched for breakfast.

"Yeah, so?"

_"Soooo_, it's nearly openin' time, dumbass!"

"Huh?" Kaaru glanced up at the Endeavour-themed clock that sat on the wall above the sink where the obnoxiously red fire hands read 8.50am, "Damn"

"You'd better go and wake 'er 'fore the dragon does, Sparkles!" Laughed Kamiji as she watched the rather feminine-looking hero rush out the door towards his internee's room.

* * *

_KNOCK KNOCK!_

"Hey, Spitfire! Time to get up!" Kaaru knocked on Toru's door, the shiny copper 70F staring back at him.

_KNOCK KNOCK!_

"C'mon! Wakey wakey!"

"…"

"Kid…?" Kaaru felt a little odd pressing his ear flat against the door, but he hadn't heard a reply from the girl—not even a bedsheet rustling or the stereotypical teenage groan at being woken so early in the morning.

"…"

"All right, that's it! I'm coming in!" Unlocking the door had been a cinch, owing of course to the fact that her dorm room had been keyed into his own keycard later yesterday evening after the girl had arrived. But it was what he found inside that stopped the hero in his tracks. "What. The. Hell…?"

Room 70F had been set up just like any other dorm room in the building, with the same cream & copper accents, the same furniture and even the same Endeavour-themed merchandise that was peppered around the place.

But that was not what caused the hero to stop and stare slack-jawed and bug-eyed at the scene before him. Where he had expected to find the teenager to be curled up underneath a layer of blankets and stubbornly ignoring his wake-up calls; he instead found her _floating _above the bed encased in light and fast asleep without a care in the world.

Padding further into the room, Kaaru soon found that the light that had encased Toru was what was keeping her afloat and the broken and flickering lamp on the bedside table appeared to be the source of some of her power at least. And that wasn't all—all around the room, tiny little…bubbles of light floated and twirled around them like tiny little stars, dancing to some unknown tune that he couldn't hear.

Picking his way through the broken glass on the floor, Kaaru reached over and turned off the broken lamp before turning his attention back to the floating girl in front of him. He deduced that at some point during the night, the top half of the lamp bulb had to have burst, though the filament within had stayed intact and had continued to glow. Which was probably where an unconscious Toru had begun to siphon the extra light from it, as it had been the only external source in the room.

_It's almost like she was photosynthesising. _Kaaru mused, stroking his soul patch in thought as the teen's eyes slowly peeled open and she suddenly plummeted straight down onto the bed, bouncing twice before curling back into her blankets as if nothing had happened.


	22. Rule #49

**Rule #49: Sometimes change is necessary**

After her not-so-gentle wake-up call—courtesy of Matchstick—Toru had been directed to change into her hero uniform and then to move to one of the agency's dojos where she would be sparring against the hero to get a feel for where she was at; seeing as her tournament fight was nothing compared to the tag-team battle.

Unclipping the latches on her costume case, what Toru found made her pause—the costume staring back at her wasn't the same one she had originally designed & ordered. _Had they gotten her confused with someone else?_ Toru scanned the manual and letter on top from the supply as it seemed to explain what was going on.

_Dear Hagakure Toru,_

_As we made repairs to your costume, our designers decided to make a few changes in regards to the materials and appearance._

_Thank you for understanding!_

_P.S. Trust me, this is gonna suit you so much better!_

_What? _Toru ran a hand through her messy braids as she reread the quick note, _They changed it?! I thought this was supposed to be my costume! And what was wrong with my old one? _A quick glance at the clock on her wall told her that she was late enough as it was and she hadn't even changed yet!

Sighing, Toru began to pull out each and every item of clothing before pulling them on. Once completely dressed, she couldn't help but admire her new look in the mirror mounted on the back of the door. _Well, as annoyed as I am about the changes—they were right, this does suit me better._

Toru twisted this way and that as she tried to admire every angle of her new costume. Gone was the yellow and white-striped two piece, gone were her sky-blue goggles, there was no more black tabi boots nor matching gloves.

Instead, the supply company had completely upgraded her to a sports bra that hugged her chest in all the right places and she wore thigh-length skin-tight shorts. The fingerless gloves, elbow pads and kneepads blocked out certain parts of her figure whilst she was invisible and the shoes were labelled as 'stealth boots'—footwear that was designed to muffle her footsteps.

All of these pieces of clothing were created from a reflective lens material that incorporated her own DNA, allowing her to completely cloak herself in her invisibility as if she were fully naked. The entire costume was also accented in pastel pink material that bordered and divided the segments of her costume; almost giving her the appearance of a rainbow fish or a brand new pearl.

The only pieces of the costume that was not reflective was the steampunk-styled goggles that were built to protect her eyes against blinding herself when she used her light Quirk and the daggers that easily slid into the sheaths built into the elbow pads and kneepads—though this kinda hid them from view.

* * *

After many twists and turns, Toru eventually found herself sheepishly standing in front of Matchstick where he stood waiting with foot tapping and arms crossed in the assigned dojo. He quirked an eyebrow in her direction and the excuse she had dancing on the edge of her tongue faded away as she broke her gaze from him and stared instead at the tatami mats beneath her feet.

Matchstick merely sighed before directing her through some warm-up laps and stretches which allowed Toru the time to take in the training area around them. The dojo appeared to be a traditional dojo, with every detail down to the paper thin screen doors and the mantra written at the front of the wooden-encrusted room, present.

However upon closer inspection you'd be able to see the little details that had gone in to making the dojo durable enough to withstand the usage of a fire-user—something that was essential at the Endeavour agency.

For example there were the many sprinklers mounted on the ceiling, plus the numerous fire extinguishers mounted on the walls and tucked away behind the doors of a storage unit lay a large tank of water and the high-pressure firehose that went along with it. Funnily enough, there were no smoke alarms.

"Right" Matchstick clapped his hands, calling her attention to him, "You're performance at the tournament was shit—" Toru winced at the harsh truth but didn't deny it "—So I wanna see what you've _really_ got. That means seeing your Quirk in action"

"Are we supposed to fight for real?" Toru murmured, unsure if she'd heard the man correctly.

"At the moment it's just a spar," Matchstick smiled, shaking out his arms as he took his stance across from the girl, "But that doesn't mean you get to hold back"

At that Matchstick activated his Quirk, an intense heatwave pushed Toru back a few paces and sweat immediately began to build on her brow. Eyes blew wide at what she saw—sure Matchstick had described his Quirk earlier, but it was nothing like seeing it in person.

Where Matchstick had stood only moments before, a regular happy guy, now stood a demon-like creature completely encased in flames. The only distinguishable features that she could see were his eyes and mouth which appeared to be dark shadows behind the dancing flame covering him from head-to-toe.

_So that's why they don't have fire alarms in here. _Toru thought, a little hysterically as she stepped back a little and instinctively bent herself inwards a little as if she were about to launch herself at him. "C'me on, Spitfire, we haven't got all day" Matchstick grinned, beckoning her forth with a crooked finger, "Show me what you've got!"

With teeth clenched in determination and eyes focused on the fiery demon before her, Toru knew the only way she would be able to land a descent hit was if she too, was alight. But unlike the smaller things she could do on command, lighting herself up wasn't something she could do like that—the only time she'd successfully done it during the Sports Festival was when she had been so riled up that it had just simply broken free

_Right, gotta rile myself up! _Toru thought as she crouched down, _What makes me mad? Iida's incessant needling? Bakugou's constant yelling? Deku constantly breaking himself? Rio's nail biting? Karma's better-than-thou attitude? _Eyes narrowed as her thoughts churned through the list of annoyances and pet peeves that usually set her off. Light began to dance beneath her skin like lightning threatening to break free. _The Government's intervention in Koro-Sensei's death! Grammy's early death! My stupid anxieties running my life!_

With each and every thought that drew her deeper and deeper into her subconscious, Toru felt herself almost lose herself to her Quirk. All around the room, lights flickered dangerously and some even burst as she drew on the light from within the filaments; soaking up the power that lay within.

Rage blazed in her eyes behind the fiery light that had engulfed them. Invisibility was shrouded in molten light which encompassed her figure in its powerful glow, no doubt making her look like a walking solar flare. All sense had faded from her mind as Toru now faced Matchstick head on. Through the angry haze Toru noticed that the hero had been watching her transformation from meek and mild to the glowing and snarling beast that now stood before him. A threatening animalistic growl ripped itself from her lips and Toru shot forward like a bullet, her focus solely locked on the only other creature in the room with her.

* * *

By day's end, Toru was nothing more than an exhausted sweaty mess sprawled across the dojo floor, staring up at the dojo's ceiling through tired lids as she sucked in breath after breath of sweet, sweet air. At some point, she'd discarded her boots, leaving them haphazardly thrown aside next to the several empty water bottles and the dirty plates from lunch.

Across from her, Matchstick seemed to be faring better—if you counted not collapsing to the floor as soon as training had ended. Rolling her head over to look at the man, Toru was pleased to note that at least some of her hits had caused damage—if only to his uniform or hair more than anything else.

All around them, the dojo had taken a serious beating. Burn marks scoured the walls and flooring in large patches of blackened ash, a couple of the screen doors had been burnt through and some were even missing altogether.

The sprinklers had been activated during their breaks so as to cool down the embers lodged in the cracks of the tatami mats. There was even a fire extinguisher which lay empty off to the side where Matchstick had used it to calm her down from the rage-induced power.

During one of their breaks, Matchstick had sat Toru down and taught her some meditation techniques; ones that helped her look within and calm herself down—much like if she was having a panic attack.

It was here that Toru had told him she could only activate the full body technique when she was in a rather emotional state and that rage was the easiest one to use. In turn, Matchstick had instructed her through the opening of her chakra gates during their meditation.

He suggested that during her 'episode' during the Sports Festival, she'd most likely (unintentionally) opened one or two of them to gain the power and now that it was open, she had no idea how to use it properly, hence the emotional switch. It had certainly been eye-opening that was for sure.

Toru closed her eyes against the _pit-pattering _of the sprinklers as they landed on her contented face and dripped down onto the singed mats below. Her panting breaths had slowed by this point and she was just happy to lay beneath the artificial rain.

* * *

Following a second meditation session after the pair had collected themselves and a quick and easy dinner made from the TV ready meals hidden in the back of the fridge, Toru found herself leaning against one of the couches in the communal area with her make-up bag sitting open on the coffee table next to her.

Her recently washed hair was piled high upon her head in a messy bun with the occasional strand springing forth and dripping water down onto her yellow smiley-faced pyjama shirt and the hems of her octopus-themed pyjama pants were rolled up to her knees so she could paint her toenails easier.

On the couch above her, Todoroki sat draped in possibly the most relaxed position she had ever seen him. He had exchanged his slightly signed hero costume for a pair of All Might-themed pyjama pants, a large white t-shirt that read: _'GO BEYOND: PLUS ULTRA!' _in large block letters and an oversized multicoloured cardigan that had been left undone.

Occasionally a soft snore would escape his lips and a few strands of red-white hair would fly about as he exhaled. Whatever his father had done with him that day had exhausted the teen far beyond anything that had ever happened at school—or at least as far as Toru could tell. Though dealing with Endeavour would probably leave _anyone _emotionally drained.

Across from the pair, Matchstick had draped himself sideways across an armchair, with his long legs hanging over one of the armrests as he relaxed; watching the two teens over the steaming cup of tea in his hand. Not much broke the comfortable silence of the common room, bar from the shaking of the nail polish bottle or the snores from the tired teen on the couch.

"So, Toru…" Matchstick began quietly, making sure not to wake Todoroki (if he was _anything _like his father, then you didn't want to wake him).

"Hm?" Toru hummed, looking up from where she had removed the foam separaters from between her own freshly painted toes and moved to gently placed them between Todoroki's unwillingly ones.

"I see you inquired about time off for a wedding…?" Matchstick smiled behind his cup as Toru situated herself at Todoroki's feet and began pulling out different colours of nail polish to use.

"Oh yeah" Toru nodded, deciding to with the black crackle nail polish overtop of the base colours. "They's family friends—or at least the bride is, I've never met the groom. But she talks about him a lot"

"How d'ya know them anyway? Are they friends of you parents or something?"

"No, uh, they're my donor family" Toru began laying down the base colours on Todoroki's nails, alternating between shocking white and bright red.

"What?" Matchstick sat up at that.

"Yeah, it should be in my file. I got a heart transplant when I was younger—the bride's father was the donor"

"And how old were you when this happened?"

"Uh…ten, I think. Yeah, ten"

"Right…so this wedding…"

"Oh yeah, uh it's supposed to be a surprise for the bride. Like I said, since I've got her father's heart, so I'm gonna walk her down the path to the shrine"

"Isn't that usually done by the monks?"

"Yeah" Toru nodded as she moved onto Todoroki's other foot, "But the groom is English, so they're gonna do a mash-up of a western and an eastern wedding"

"Huh…and, uh, how're you gonna get there?"

"Oh, uh, Hitoshi's gonna pick me up" Toru then moved onto applying the crackled varnish, after carefully drying the base coat.

"Hitoshi…?"

"Oh, Shinsou Hitoshi"

"The brainwasher kid? The purple-haired one from the festival?"

"Uh, yeah, that's him—the bride's his older sister"

"Huh, well, have fun"

"Thanks" Toru grinned, going back to painting the unconscious Todoroki's toes.


	23. Rule #29

** _Rule #29: Change your perspective; your faults & weaknesses might just be your strengths_ **

The following morning found a tired and bedraggled Toru slumped over her breakfast and trying her best to hide the grin that was threatening to spread across her face. Across from her sat an equally bedraggled Todoroki with his hair pointing in all directions and one shoulder of his large t-shirt had slipped off to reveal the bare skin beneath as he ate. It was quite the contrast from his usually prim & proper appearance and even better, he had yet to notice his red and white crackle-painted toe nails!

"Alright there, kiddos?" Matchstick greeted joyfully as he shuffled passed in his obnoxiously pink polka-dot pyjamas, placing his umpteenth empty tea cup and breakfast plate in the dishwasher. Toru merely grunted around a mouthful of rice while Todoroki gave a quick nod in the hero's direction.

"Well" Matchstick clapped his hands once, gaining the teens' attention, "You'll be please to hear that Endeavour is out of town on business—meaning you're with us today, Katy" At this, he ruffled Todoroki's messy bed hair affectionately whilst Toru snorted into her miso at Todoroki's confused expression, "Meet me up on the rooftop when you're done"

"…Whose Katy?" Todoroki asked after a pause as he watched Matchstick shuffle towards his dorm to get ready for the day.

"You" Grinned Toru.

"Me? I'm not Katy…" Todoroki turned back to her, still confused.

"She's this old classical singer" Toru explained puling out her cellphone and searching for the song that Matchstick was no doubt referencing, "He's probably referring to this song…" She skipped to the chorus and hit play.

_…'Cause you're hot then you're cold_

_You're yes then you're no_

_You're in then you're out_

_You're up then you're down_

_You're wrong when it's right_

_It's black and it's white_

_We fight, we break up_

_We kiss, we make up_

_(You) You don't really want to stay, no_

_(You) But you don't really want to go-o_

_You're hot then you're cold_

_You're yes then you're no_

_You're in then you're out_

_You're up then you're down…_

"…I wouldn't take it personally, Matchstick gives everyone nicknames; hell in the last couple of days he's given me at least three!" Toru continued as she removed herself from the table and went to place her empty plates in the dishwasher.

"…Why?" Toru turned to see that Todoroki was still confused.

"Uh…it's like a term of endearment" Toru tried to explain. _How can he not know…?_

"Endearment? But he called me a girl…"

"Yeah, but y'know, it's like when your siblings tease you, right? Like, they'll call you names and such, but they still care. It's kinda like that"

"Oh"

"I'll, uh, see you on the roof" Toru retreated from the room, to get ready for the day.

* * *

Dressed in her activewear (a pair of hot pink sweatpants, a loose grey hoodie tank top that sat overtop of a pastel pink sports bra that could be seen through the long arm holes which reached down to her chest and no shoes) Toru met Todoroki in the elevator headed for the roof. A quick glance at the other teen showed that he had changed into a loose off-white tank top and a pair of grey sweatpants were matched with a pair of sneakers that had seen better days.

_DING! DONG!_

"…Uh, hello…?" Toru called as the two teens drew nearer to where Matchstick currently sat in a meditative position amongst the rooftop garden.

"Hm?" Matchstick—simply dressed in a pair of black leggings— peeled open his eyes, "Oh, good you're here. Toru we'll be working on your chakra gates—" He patted the ground next to him and Toru sat down across from him, "—and Todoroki, I'm sure you've got your own exercises to be working on" Todoroki nodded his assent before moving over to the rock garden where he began to run through his katas.

"Sooo,…are you ready to begin, Lil' Lady?" Matchstick turned to Toru who had laid her legs flat on the ground with the soles of her feet touching each other in the butterfly pose.

"Ummm…yesterday you said you could teach me to gain control of my Quirk without the use of the emotional switch—How?" Toru asked.

"First you must gain balance within yourself before you can use your Quirk to its fullest potential" Matchstick replied sagely.

"Is that how it worked with yours?" Toru tilted her head in question.

"Mmhm" Matchstick nodded before pulling out a tea cup filled with some kind of thick creamy liquid, "And the first step to gaining balance begins with this. Drink up"

"Uh, okay" Toru hesitantly took the aforementioned cup and took a large slurp from it. It took a moment for the odd taste to settle over her tongue, before she quickly spat it out, getting most of it on the ground and her chin. "EURGH! It tastes like creamy garlic and caramel juice!"

"That's because it's durian juice! Yummy!" Matchstick took a long swig of his own cup.

_How can he drink that?_ Toru scrunched her nose up in disgust as Matchstick licked his chops, happily exhaling as he set down his own cup next to Toru's abandoned one.

"In order to master your Quirk, you must open _all _the chakras" Matchstick turned serious once more as he explained, "Toru, tell me everything you know about chakras"

"Uh…they're rainbow coloured?" Toru replied.

"Oh, I see. I guess we'll start with the basics" Matchstick rose and led Toru over to the far corner of the rooftop garden where a creek lay containing several pools of water at varying levels and flowed into each other.

Crouching down at the edge of the top pool, Matchstick picked up a crooked branch and began poking at the algae floating on the surface as he explained, "The water flows through this creek much like the energy flows through your body. You see, there are several pools where the water swirls before flowing on. These pools are like our chakras"

"So chakras are like pools of energy that spiral inside our bodies?" Toru questioned, her eyes trailing over the lazily moving water.

"Exactly! If nothing else were around, this creek would flow pure and clear. However life is messy and things tend to fall in the creek, and then what happens?"

"The creek can't flow?"

"Yes! But if we open the paths between the pools—" Reaching out over the first pool, Matchstick used the branch to lift out the algae blocking the way which allowed the clear water to flow into the next pool and so on.

"—The energy flows!" Toru exclaimed.

Moving over to the edges of the rock garden so that the pair were out of the way of Todoroki's training, Matchstick sat the pair down and began to teach the teenager. "There are seven chakras that go up the body. Each pool of energy has a purpose and can be blocked by a specific kind of emotional muck—be warned, opening the chakra gates is an intense experience and different for each person. Are you ready?"

"…Yes" Toru nodded.

"Right, close your eyes and let's begin" Matchstick instructed, "First we'll open the earth chakra which is located in the base of the spine. It deals with survival and is blocked by fear. What are you most afraid of? Let your fears become clear"

Flashes of images passed in front of Toru's closed lids as she tried to focus on frightened her most. _Being forgotten by her friends and family, being told to kill your teacher within the year or else, nearly loosing her closest friends to a man-made sickness driven by vengeful men, being held captive and leered at by strange men, the dark-eyed men who prowled the night searching for easy prey…_

The list just went on, but soon one particular fear came to the forefront of her mind, one which always set her on edge no matter what she tried. It was the memory of a man drunk on the idea of revenge and power. _A dark figure surrounded by a ring of towering wildfire and monstrous tentacles of every size and shape flowed around the muscular figure like hair in the wind._

"AHH!" Toru physically cowered away from the vision before her. Her heart felt like it was trying to jackhammer out of her chest!

"Toru, your vision's not real" Matchstick's gentle voice echoed throughout Toru's mind and she clung to it like a lifeline, "You' re concerned for you survival, but you must surrender those fears. Let your fears flow down the creek"

Clenching her eyes shut, both physically and mentally, Toru heaved a big shuddering sigh as she imagined the fearful image washing away. "Congratulations! You have opened your earth chakra!" Smiled Matchstick when Toru reopened her eyes and wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Phew" Toru sighed, absentmindedly taking note that Todoroki had paused in his exercises and was watching concernedly.

* * *

Next the pair moved over to seat themselves next to the koi pond where Matchstick had turned on the sprinklers behind them to both water the garden and create ambience for the next task. "Next is the—" Matchstick began.

"—Water chakra?" Toru guessed.

"That's right! This chakra deals with pleasure and is blocked by guilt. Now look inside yourself at all the guilt that burdens you so. What do you blame yourself for?"

Toru closed her eyes once more and linking her hands together thought back on what made her feel guilty. _Koro-Sensei stared up at the sky with happy tears in his eyes as each one of his beloved students uselessly pinned down a limp tentacle so that Nagisa could pierce his heart. _"I helped kill someone" Toru meekly confessed.

_A brutally beaten Tamaki lay limply and lifeless in her lap as she tried her best to resuscitate her friend. Behind the teen, her grandmother's tortured body lay lifeless on the table. _"I got my friends and family hurt"

_A young pale and sickly Toru lay in the hospital bed, practically hooked up to every machine in the room as she listened to her mother and doctor outside the cracked door. Mother was exclaiming that she couldn't afford to pay for both the transplant and school tuition. _"I made Mother chose"

"A-accept the reality that these things happened; but do not let them cloud and poison your energy. If you are to be a positive influence, you need to _forgive _yourself" Matchstick stumbled a little as he took in Toru's confessions.

* * *

After a brief break which Matchstick used to build a small fire in the empty pit, the two sat down on either side of the flickering flames and began again. "Third is the fire chakra located in the stomach"

"My fire chakra would like to eat something other than durian juice" Toru complained as her stomach growled hungrily, demanding to be fed lunch. But Matchstick merely laughed it off.

"Hahahaha! Good one! Anyway, moving on, this chakra deals with will power and it is blocked by shame. What are you ashamed of? What are your biggest disappointments in yourself?"

_A tearful Toru sat huddled in the furtherest bathroom stall of the mall with hands covering her mouth in an attempt to stifle any loud noises, least she be discovered by the creatures prowling around outside._

_Outside she could hear the singing taunts of her peers as they mocked her new appearance. How even among the star-studded and mind-boggling inhabitants of this new city, she was still seen as weird and ugly—the jagged scar on her chest being the vocal point of many questioning stares and pitiful looks._"I'm never gonna show myself again, I can't"

"You will never find balance if you can't accept yourself for who you are. You are scarred and therefore, a survivor—beautiful and whole" Matchstick retorted softly, gazing at the girl with caring eyes.

Toru heaved a shuddering breath as tears collected in the corners of her eyes but refused to fall. "Hmm…" Matchstick mused, "That chakra gate opened less like a flowing creek and more like a burping dragon"

_BUUURRRP! _Toru belched, making a face at the second-hand taste she received from the durian juice. "…Tastes like garlic and caramel, but also…chives?"

"Mm?" Matchstick just shrugged in response.

* * *

As the day drew on, Toru and Matchstick hopped around the garden, each time choosing a different spot for a chakra gate to be opened. This time, the pair were seated on the roots of the apple trees growing there. "…The fourth chakra is located in the heart. It deals with love and is blocked by grief. Lay all your grief out in front of you"

_Grammy, Mother, Tamaki, Koro-Sensei and Yukimura-Sensei stood together holding hands; each of them peaceful and smiling. Toru felt happy that she got to see all of her favourite people alive and well, but it didn't last long. It was almost like they were glitching—the scene in front of her twitched and crackled before being replaced with them as she last knew them._

_Grammy hanging from the ceiling like a macabre chandelier, Mother knee-deep in bills and empty bottles, Tamaki lying lifeless in her arms as help finally arrived, Koro-Sensei staring listlessly up at the starry night sky as it slowly melted into dawn and Yukimura-Sensei who was there one moment and gone the next._

"You have indeed felt a great loss, little Spitfire" Matchstick spoke as the gathering tears finally fell from Toru's red eyes as she murmured each person's name, "But love is a form of energy and it dances all around us. Your family's love for you has not left this world; it's still inside your heart just in another form. Let the pain flow away"

_Profiles of 3-E and 1-A flitted through her mind—it was the camaraderie in the little things, like having lunch together or beating another class at sport's day that made Toru smile despite her tears._

"Very good"

* * *

"The chakra gate is the sound chakra and is located in the throat; it deals with truth and is blocked by lies—the ones we tell ourselves" Matchstick slurped on his juice.

_Did we do the right thing, killing Koro-Sensei? The entire class of 3-E sat fast asleep at their desks, each one of them using their personally designed yearbooks as a pillow. Outside, dawn had begun to break and the government's goons had been thwarted; but no one felt a sense of peace._

"He was a villain; he had to go" Toru muttered vehemently though the words fell flat.

"You cannot lie about your own past, you must accept what has happened"

"No…he wasn't villain, not to us" Toru sighed, "We just didn't want him to die at the hands of the cold-hearted government soldiers"

"Very good, Spitfire, you have opened the chakra of truth"

* * *

"The sixth gate of chakra is the light chakra and is located in the centre of the forehead" Matchstick instructed as they sat on the sun-warmed bricks; sweat trickling down their figures in the afternoon sun.

"Is this the one you think I opened during the Sports Festival?" Toru asked.

"Uh huh. When that emotional switch was flipped on that first time, you were able to use your Quirk in ways you never had before—temporary though it was"

"Oh"

"Anyway, this gate deals with insight and is blocked by illusion. The greatest illusion of all, is the illusion of separation—things you think are separate and different, are in fact connected"

"Like the countries of the world?"

"Yep" Matchstick nodded, "We are all one people, but we live as if divided"

"That's pretty deep. So we're all connected, right? Like everything in life is connected?"

"That's right; even the separation of the four elements is an illusion"

"Huh?"

"If you open your mind, you will see that _all _the elements are one, four parts of the same whole. Even light is a part of a fire that has been purified and refined"

"Really?"

"Really, really" Smiled the hero.

* * *

"This is the last gate, right?" Toru questioned as the afternoon sun gave way to dusk. Having seated themselves atop the cooling air handler box, Toru could see everything—over the side of the agency's building, down all those stories to the ant-like people below and out across the rooftop where greenery was all that you could seen. And parked nearby with his feet dangling over the small bridge's side, sat Todoroki with his feet in the water below.

"Yep" Nodded Matchstick as he shifted in place, trying to get comfortable, "Once you open this chakra, you'll be able to use your Quirk to its fullest potential"

"Let's do this!" Toru replied determinedly.

"The thought chakra is located at the crown of the head; it deals with pure cosmic energy and is blocked by earthly attachments. What attaches you to this world?"

_Flashes of family and friends passed in front of Toru's closed lids; all of them smiling and laughing. Little instances of camaraderie and laughter where they just enjoyed themselves even when it felt like the weight of the world was on their shoulders._

"—Now, let all of those attachments go; let them flow down the river, forgotten"

"What?! Why would I let go of my friends and family? I mean you just spent all day telling me to keep them around! Why would you want me to abandon them now?"

"I'm not telling to throw them away, Spitfire"

"…You're not?"

"No" He shook his head, "We're merely just creating a headspace that allows you access the furtherest reaches of your Quirk without being controlled by your emotions"

"…Really?" Toru spoke meekly, "So I don't have forget about them? I…I'm not alone?"

"No, you're not alone" Matchstick patted the girl's knee inc comfort.

"O-okay"

"Do you wanna try again?"

"Okay" Toru nodded before closing her eyes and trying again.

"Now, think of your attachments and let them go—"

_In her mind's eye, Toru could see all the people she loved, all her closest friends and family tying her to the earth, just lazily float away as if they were floating down a river. Even though it pained her to do so, Toru just stood and watched._

"—Let the pure cosmic energy flow"

_The image was soon replaced with a magnificent view of the world from space, with the stars glittering all around them. Beneath her feet sat the aurora borealis twisting and turning in its multicoloured glory, and solidifying when she walked along it like a path. And finally, up ahead at the end of the glowing path sat a large silhouette of herself, completely engulfed in light._

_She burned so bright, but Toru never felt in harms way nor did she become blinded; instead she walked towards the silhouette with hand outstretched, drawn to it like a moth to a flame. When her small fleshy hand came in contact with the large jagged scar over the silhouette's heart, Toru felt power like never before flow through her. It was like someone had opened the floodgates and all this power came rushing out._

With eyes alight and burning bright like torches in the dark, Toru collapsed to the ground gasping for air like she had just emerged from being submerged underwater. Sweat clung to her brow and her tank top clung to her like a second skin, sticky and soaking. All around her, the world had been cast in a white haze, almost like she was looking at an old picture.

Absentmindedly —as her chest heaved with each breath she took, sucking in air—Toru noted that what lights had been placed around the garden, had exploded and their now free filaments were glowing brighter than was even possible. It appeared that it was her that was draining the power from the lights and she knew that if she didn't stop soon, she might accidentally take more than just the rooftop lights. Though it took a moment or two, she was eventually able to deactivate her Quirk, allowing the light in her eyes to fade and the bubbles of swirling light floating in the air around them to disappear.

"Well done, Toru"

* * *

At the end of the day, Toru found herself walking back to the agency in comfortable silence with a pot of steaming Tokyo ramen clutched in her hands and Todoroki at her side with his own pot of sesame and ginger soba noodles, that they had purchased from the noodle festival down the street.

Both teens were exhausted from the day, though in very different ways. Todoroki had spent the day running through katas and other exercises by himself, pushing himself as he felt the need to prove his father wrong. Toru on the other hand had spent the day opening all of the chakra gates, something which left her emotionally exhausted and wanting nothing more than to hide away from the rest of the world.

Toru was pretty sure that Todoroki had been listening in as she went about opening her chakra gates seeing as it had been his suggestion to attend the noodle festival for dinner when he had found her still laying on the rooftop earlier that evening. Though at first, she was pretty sure she just about gave him a heart attack seeing as she had lain with her legs stretched out along the rooftop with her head hanging over the side; like she was hanging upside down on a couch.

Toru was soon pulled from her thoughts by Todoroki's hand on her arm as he abruptly stopped her from going any further. A questioning look was shot in his direction, however it was the arrival of two new people that answered Toru's unspoken question.

Todoroki slowly pulled Toru behind him, protecting her from the two drunken men who leered at the girl when they approached. "Hey, hey!" Slurred the husky man to the left, "What's the hurry, doll?"

"Yeah, why don't you ditch this kid and come hang out with some real men?" Added his lanky friend.

_Ugh! Is this what I have to look forward to every time I go out?! _Toru huffed, shifting in place as one hand delved into the depths of her sepia-brown peacoat and the other stayed gripping onto the tensed arm of Todoroki who stayed barring her way.

"You should leave"— Todoroki bit out, trying to deter the drunken men away from his friend, "—Before someone gets hurt"

"Aww! Look at this, Nori, someone's feeling big for his britches!"

"Well, isn't that just adorable, Lee!" Nori reached over and pinched Todoroki's cheek much to his displeasure.

After sifting through all the junk in her pockets, Toru eventually found what she was looking for. When fingers clasped onto the cool metal beneath, she quickly removed the item from her pocket, quickly checking to see if it was the pin she was after.

Before the situation could go any further, Toru slipped out from behind Todoroki, placing her free hand on the boy's arm in reassurance before turning to the drunken men before her. "Toru?" Todoroki questioned as the girl stepped forth, taking on a rather cheesy attitude.

"Hiya boys! Wow! You two are ripped!" Toru gushed cheesily, much to the appreciation of the two men who grinned in reply, "Look, I'd love to chill but my daddy keeps me on a super short leash. Yeah, it sucks, but what are ya gonna do? Helicopter parents"

At this, Toru pulled out the pin she had been fiddling with and showed it to the two men in front of them. When they caught sight of the emblem engraved on the front, both quickly turned into pale stuttering messes. "T-t-that's a Yakuza pin!" Cried Lee.

"Not just any Yakuza pin! That's from the Aizukotetsu-kai syndicate!" Nori added hysterically.

"Sorry, we bothered you!" Both mean chorused before scampering off into the night with their tails between their legs.

"Okay, bye!" Toru cheerily waved after them before turning back to a bug-eyed Todoroki. "Shall we?" Toru gestured towards the street ahead of them, indicating that she wanted to keep going.

"…Toru…" Todoroki began cautiously eyeing the girl as his thoughts began to spin.

"Hm?"

"Why do you have a Yakuza pin?"

"Oh! I nicked it off of one of the syndicate's members when he visited the compound a couple of months back"

"…Are you saying you're a part of the Yakuza?!"

"What? No! I just live in one of the compounds run by the Aizukotetsu-kai syndicate. People are crappy, but rent's good"

"…Oh…sorry"

"It's fine" The two walked back to the Endeavour agency in silence and although Toru her eyes forward, she could almost feel when Todoroki would send glances in her direction as he tried to figure her out.


	24. Rule #69

**Rule #69: Never trust a Hero who doesn't trust their Sidekick**

On the morning of the fourth day of the internship, Toru found herself eagerly awaiting the arrival of Hitoshi and the following wedding ceremony. After a quick shower, she set herself up in front of one the sinks in the communal bathroom with her make-up bag propped up next to her and open, ready for the process she was about to undertake.

Still wrapped in her towel and with her hair piled atop her head in a messy top knot and a pink cat-eared headband keeping any strands out of the way, Toru began to get ready. First, she began with her usual skin-care routine, applying the soy facial cleanser as evenly as possible before washing it off and drying her dripping cheeks.

Next went on the rose-scented facial spray that Toru enjoyed the feel of on her skin; and finally she ended with scrubbing on the aloe vera facial moisturiser that not only had a high SPF rating, but wasn't as greasy as some of the others she'd tried before.

Now Toru wasn't exactly the biggest fan of make-up—typically only wearing it when she had to or for special events—but that didn't mean she didn't know how to use it. Despite all her flaws, Bitch-Sensei had installed the 3-E girls with some good skills to use outside of the typical school curriculum, such as the application of make-up and how to use it skillfully.

* * *

After a hearty breakfast shared with Matchstick, Todoroki and some of the other heroes on the floor, Toru retreated to her dorm room where she reclaimed her make-up bag and returned to the bathroom to apply her make-up. Today, she'd decided to go for more of a natural look, something plain and simple—yet didn't make it look like she hadn't caked her face in make-up to achieve the look. Yes, this was typically more of a look popular within the Western world, but Toru reasoned that since the wedding was a mash-up of cultures, then it wouldn't matter that much.

Shaking up the bottle of primer, Toru began her process. _Thank God for Canmake! _Toru thought as she applied the product to her face, thankful for the lightness of the product that never felt like it was gunking up her acne-prone face. Next went on the concealer, covering the bags under her eyes and blended it in with her little spongy egg; followed by a couple of brushes of foundation across the bridge of her nose & cheeks and down the sides of her jaws.

Ignoring the constant traffic of people moving in and out of the communal bathroom around her, she moved onto her eyes, lining the lids with a combination of varying shades of bronze so that her eyes would pop, but still seem natural. The darker shades of bronze were used to emphasise the shadows of her eyes, creating a little bit of depth.

_Ha! I always feel like I'm painting a picture when I do this bit. _Toru mused when she pulled out her neutrally-toned liquid eyeliner. Unlike most girls, Toru refused to line the bottom of her eyelids because she always felt like she was trying to poke her eyes out; which was fine anyhow, seeing as she had slightly smaller eyes.

At this point, Toru took a step or two back to admire her work, which although not finished, was looking pretty good if she did say so herself. Just as she stepped back in to replace the products she was finished with, with her next lot; the door opened to reveal Matchstick with her phone in hand.

"Uh…Shinsou just called to day he was on his way" Matchstick reported as Toru picked up her eyelashes curler.

"Thanks, Matchstick" Toru replied, leaning over the sink so she could concentrate on her lashes.

"Uh…what the hell is that?" Matchstick stopped, confused at the contraption in his intern's hand.

"It's…an eyelash curler" Toru replied, moving from the left to the right eye.

"Okay…uh…why?"

" 'Cause there is _no way _I'm gluing on extensions if I don't have to"

"Why would you even _want_ to glue on eyelash extensions?!"

"Exactly"

"…Uh…right…" Matchstick just retreated from the bathroom leaving Toru to finish her make-up and hair.

A quick dash of blush was applied to either cheek before she moved onto filling in her thin eyebrows and a touch of mascara to highlight her curled lashes. _Hmm, I think I'll go with red today. _Toru mused, shifting through her lipglosses before landing on the one she wanted. It was a red matte gloss called Mars, and was one from Midnight's line of make-up. And finally, Toru applied a setting powder all over her face which acted like a sealer, keeping everything in place.

After tucking away all of her make-up items into her yellow polka-dot make-up bag, she then pulled out as many bobby pins as she could find and set them down next to her hairbrush on the edge of the sink. Taking off her headband and shaking out her now dry hair from the topknot, with practised motions, Toru brushed, twisted, pinned and tucked her hair up into a French twist at the back of her head that was held in place by a red and white floral hairpin. The end result was a simple and clean look that suited her well.

* * *

It was mid-morning by the time Toru had retreated to her bedroom to change, the dress and jewellery she had chosen to wear already laying out. A quick glance at the Endeavour-themed clock on the wall showed her she didn't have very much time left until Hitoshi was to arrive so she quickly set to work, putting on her dress.

First she pulled on a pair on tan tights which she had cut five small holes into the toes, in order for her to grip onto her shoes without the incessant feeling that they were going to slip off. It was a little odd and usually freaked people out, but it was just something she liked to do.

Next she pulled on a printed kimono-styled shirt overtop of her strapless bra; the kimono shirt was a creamy colour with red trim around the neck & sleeves and printed with red poppies and dark leaves fluttering around the fabric. The shirt was also tied in such a way that it revealed part of the transplant scar that ran down the centre of her chest.

Toru then pulled on the matching red high waisted skirt which rested just below her chest and ended just above her knees. The lolita-styled skirt was pleated and tied at the waist with a large red bow that sat a little off-centre at her hip.

The entire outfit was wrapped up with a simple floral choker and dark red stilettos. Stepping back to admire herself in the mirror, Toru almost didn't recognise the girl staring back at her. The lolita-style outfit was not something she usually wore, typically opting to go for t-shirts, jeans and skirts; but it still felt nice to dress up for a change.

_Shoot! I'll be late! _Toru panicked when she shot a quick glance at the clock on the wall. Grabbing her black clutch bag, Toru made her out of her room and towards the agency's foyer where she was to meet Hitoshi soon.

* * *

Upon arriving in the foyer (and smirking slightly at Chisoe's slack-jawed expression) Toru made her way over to where her purple-haired teen stood chatting with Matchstick, Todoroki and some other heroes as they waited around for Endeavour, who had declared that they were gonna go patrolling around Hosu city.

"Hey 'Toshi, you ready to go?" Toru called as she approached, double checking her clutch to make sure she had everything she needed.

"Kami almighty…" Breathed another intern from Ketsubutsu Academy High School, upon catching sight of the well-dressed Toru, eyes trailing up and down her figure.

"Hm?" Todoroki turned to follow the elder teen's line of sight to his friend; leaving him red-tinted and speechless at what he saw.

"You lucky bastard…!" Added another young hero, clapping Shinso on his shoulder as the group turned.

"Hey Toru, yeah, I'm good, let's go" Hitoshi replied, looking rather relieved that she had finally arrived and getting him out of the one-sided conversation that an exuberant Matchstick seemed to be heading.

Doing a quick once-over, Toru saw that Hitoshi had garbed himself in a navy blue suit overtop of the matching vest and burgundy tie—today's uniform for the groomsmen.

"Good" Toru clung onto her clutch as she talked, "Have you got your boutonnière yet?"

"We're getting them at the venue" Shinso replied.

"Right, well, we should be heading off then" Toru commandeered, pulling Shinso along behind her, "See you later" She waved to Matchstick and the other heroes still standing in the foyer.

* * *

Upon arriving at Yoshino Mikumari Shrine where the ceremony would take place, Toru was directed towards the bride's room and Shinso towards the grooms where the two were getting the last minute things ready with their respective bridesmaids and groomsmen.

"Oh wow! Ichika! You look beautiful!" Toru cooed upon seeing her friend admiring herself in front of the mirror. The purple-haired woman hadn't opted for the traditional white wedding kimono that the more traditional brides favoured nor the red and gold kimono that was more popular nowadays. Instead, she chosen a pearl-coloured kimono that faded into a delicate lavender at her hips and was emulated along her billowing sleeves. The silken fabric was held together with an obi of the same lavender colour used in the kimono.

Just like how her wedding kimono was far from traditional, her Uchikake followed the same path. The fabric held a translucent quality that flowed around her curved figure like water over rocks and the entire fabric was decorated in delicate little wildflowers winding around her frame, varying in shades between pearl, lavender and pastel pink.

"T-toru!" Ichika spun on her heel with her hands clasped over her mouth and tears gathering in her eyes, "Y-you're here!"

"Surprise!" Toru grinned walking over to hug the older girl.

"What are you doing here? I thought you couldn't make it?"

"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't attend your wedding? Or better yet, what kind of father wouldn't walk his daughter down the aisle?"

"T-toru…?" Ichika pulled back from the hug "What are you saying?"

"We thought that even though your father couldn't be here entirely, at least part of him could give you away" Toru explained.

"Oh Toru! Oh! Thank you! Thank you!" Cried the bride.

* * *

During a traditional Eastern wedding, the shrine maidens and masters would typically walk the bride and groom down the path to the Shinto shrine, however since Ichika and Noah—her groom—had wanted to do things slightly differently, it was the groomsmen, each paired with a bridesmaid, who led the bride and groom down the path.

Passing under the red gate of the Shinto shrine, Noah's mother walked arm-in-arm with her son and Toru (trying her best not to trip over the cobblestones) took up the rear with Ichika on her arm; as the shrine maidens and masters stood on either side of the courtyard path, performing the ancient court music as the wedding party passed.

Upon arriving on the steps of the Shinto shrine, the guests were directed into seats on either side of the pavilion—bride's family on the left and groom's family on the right—as they waited for the bride and groom to be delivered to the altar at the front of the room. Separating from Ichika, Toru found a seat between Shinso and an unknown bridesmaid on the uncomfortable wooden pews.

Once everyone was seated, the wedding ceremony truly began. Kneeling at the altar, both Ichika and Noah were presented with the cups of Sake as the sunken no gi began. When the shrine maiden poured the drink into the first cup presented to Noah, they started small at first, before increasing in size on the second and third pour. In turn Noah repeated the same technique when drinking the liquid, starting small at first before taking larger sips before it was handed off to Ichika.

This was meant to symbolise the heavens, showing their appreciation for their ancestors. The second cup of Sake was meant symbolise the earth and the couples' vow to care for each other for as long as they live and the third cup represents people & the praise for the couple's fertility.

The second ritual that the couple performed was one that was unique to the Yoshino Mikumari Shrine and involves offering a simple wooden comb to the Shinto Gods. Toru watched as Ichika picked up the comb wrapped in sheer floral cloth and placed it in front of her heart as she silently said a prayer before handing the comb over to Noah.

In accepting the comb, Noah had shown Ichika and the attendees his determination and willingness to make this marriage work. After Noah had accepted the comb, it was then placed on the altar for the Shinto Gods as an offering, for which both of the couple bowed to after presentation.

Next came the reading of the vows. The first lot was read in Japanese to the Shinto Gods; from where she sat, Toru could see Ichika smiling slightly at how Noah was trying his best to correctly pronounce the Japanese words as he read the vows to the Gods.

Then the two then turned to each other and read their own vows to one another, promising to love and hold each other, as they reminisced on funny little scenarios that happened in the past when they realised that they loved each other. Ichika went first, describing first, a food fight at a summer camp and then again later when Noah had helped to care for her family when they were going through rough times.

Noah went next and with tears in his eyes and voice choking in his throat. He described days where the two would just horse around, acting completely childish and days where they would just snuggle together under blankets and watch the world go by. It was clear that the two loved each other dearly.

Following the vows, came the tamagushi hoten, a special ceremony which involved offering a sprig of flowering evergreen to the Shinto Gods, meant to symbolise the passage of thoughts from one end of the branch to the other as they reached out to the Gods. Both Ichika and Noah bowed before the altar, clapping twice as they gave their prayers to the Gods.

And finally came the exchanging of wedding bands, as the two sealed their promises of love and marriage to each other. Ichika and Noah left the shrine to the applause of the attendees as they moved to take their wedding photos out on the grounds.

Quietly following after Shinso, Toru joined the procession to the altar where the attendees were then given the opportunity to participate in shinzoku katame no sakazuki—where they celebrated the bonding of these two people by drinking a cup of Sake and gave thanks to the Shinto Gods.

* * *

Later that evening after everyone was stuffed with food and drink, Toru found herself laughing heartily as she watched Shinso dance with his sister like they were little kids again—wild and free, all limbs practically flying akimbo as they twirled around the dance floor. Following the formal ceremonies at the Yoshino Mukimura Shrine, the wedding party had moved to an adjacent building where they held the reception.

The newly married couple had danced to a song from their childhoods—something from a cartoon that described how just being together was just the best day ever. Moving on from that, Shinso had danced with Ichika during the Father-Daughter dance whilst Toru performed the song Ichika had first written for her during their first few days of correspondence, the year after her transplant. This one described how destiny was written in your heart and the friends you'll make forevermore—Ichika had cried both times.

And now that the day was winding down, Toru had seated herself at one of the empty tables pushed aside to make room for the ever-expanding dance floor with her heels locked together and plopped aside amongst several other pairs.

_BZZT! BZZT!_

Glancing down at her quietly vibrating phone, Toru winced at the sudden brightness in the dim room before she opened up the message from Midoriya who had mass-messaged everyone in 1-A with his location in a back alley of Hosu city.

Sobering slightly, Toru sent back a question mark, asking the green-haired boy what he meant. When she received no reply from the green-haired boy, Toru began to worry, biting her lower lip between her teeth. _Just what have you gotten yourself into this time, Midoriya?_


	25. Rule #28

**Rule #_28: If you need help, ask_**

Not wanting to worry those around her, Toru excused herself to the bathroom so that she could decide what to do in peace. _Midoriya always answers right away, what's keeping him? _Toru worried as she paced back and forth in the pearl-laden bathroom. _Maybe I should call him? What if he's busy? _Her finger hovered over the call button as she worried anxiously. _Just a quick call—that can't hurt, right? To make sure everything's okay…_

Pressing the call button, Toru waited anxiously for the boy on the other end to pick up. When he did, however, her stomach rolled and she felt cold. Sounds of intense fighting and fiery shouting could be heard from the other end of the line. Listening closely, Toru could pick up Midoriya's voice along with Todoroki's and…Iida's?

Two more unfamiliar voices could be heard as well, though one sounded panicked and the other was rather threatening and menacing. Without a second thought, Toru ended the call and shot out the door, following Midoriya's blinking dot as she hoped against hope that she'd get there in time.

* * *

Mindless of what she looked like, Toru raced through the streets of Hosu city, navigating the back alleys as if she had lived there her whole life. At some point, she had decided that it was much easier to scale a run down building and free-run across the rooftops to her desired stop.

Upon arriving at her destination, Toru stared down into the dark alley which was littered by glaciers of broken ice and blood splattered up and down the walls. At one end stood the easily identifiable villain garbed in dark clothing, ripped scarves and various blades mounted on his back.

At the other end of the alley, Todoroki stood defiantly in front of Midoriya—who looked to have broken something _again— _and Iida—who appeared to be in serious pain. The last unknown man turned out to be Native, a Pro hero.

Taking in the two sides who stood, staring each other down, Toru decided instead of declaring herself in some flashy move like so many others would do, she would simply aim to stall the villain until the Pros arrived.

Standing on the edge of the building with her toes hanging over the side (she'd discarded her heels back at the shrine), Toru crouched slightly before slipping down into the alleyway, behind the prone heroes. First, she silently moved to Native who seemed to be the most wounded, jumping from the spotted glaciers to hide her movements and sticking to the shadows as she did so.

Placing a hand over the hero's mouth, Toru pressed a finger to her lips signalling for him to keep quiet before she locked her hands under his armpits and across his chest. Once secure, Toru dragged him out of the way and closer to the mouth of the alley's entrance and set him up against the wall there.

Careful fingers prodded the wound at his side, revealing a large slash that ripped through his costume and bleeding heavily. Heated fingers ripped through the bottom layer of her skirt, peeling off a strip of fabric that she used to bind the wound before she ran back into the fray to retrieve her classmates.

When she returned, she found Todoroki engaging the villain once more and using this advantage came up behind Iida, clamping a hand over his mouth and whispering in his ear as he began to struggle. "Iida! Iida! It's me! It's Toru! I need you to be quiet now, okay?" Without waiting for a reply, Toru repeated the same process that she had with Native, taking an unwilling Iida over to the mouth of the alley and setting him down.

"Hagakure? What are you doing here?" A prone Iida whispered harshly "Why are you all dressed up?"

"I was at a wedding when I got Deku's message" Toru explained quietly, checking him over to see if he too had any wounds she could deal with. Using another strip of her skirt and a nearby pipe, Toru created a makeshift splint for the worst of Iida's legs. "This villain, is he the one that's been all over the news?" She asked Native over her shoulder.

"Yes" Native nodded slowly getting some feeling back in his limbs, "That's Stain: the Hero Killer"

"And let me guess, you thought it would be a great idea to come play with him?" Toru turned back to Iida. "You idiot!" She softly slapped him up the side of the head.

"He killed my brother!" Iida defended.

"He could've killed _you" _Toru retorted, "You're lucky Deku's such a worrier"

"I could've handled it on my own" Sulked Iida.

"No. You couldn't have. That's why heroes work in teams" Toru replied shortly, before pulling out her phone, "Were there any other heroes nearby when you came this way?"

"Uh, I was patrolling with Manual…"

"Right, and Todoroki was with Endeavour; so they should at least be close by…"

Tapping away on her phone, Toru brought up the internet browser and typed in the URL for Ritsu's new programme.

"What are you doing?" Iida asked, his eyes focused on the bright screen in the dimly lit alley.

"Calling for help" Toru replied, not looking up from her phone. "Ritsu?"

"Hiya Toru!" Chirped the purple-haired A.I. once she had loaded, "What's up?"

"Ritsu, I need you to contact any of the heroes in the vicinity nearest to our location and bring them here"

"Okie dokie!"

She then tucked her phone into Native's outstretched hand as she rose from her crouch, "I'm gonna leave my phone here, if you have any more problems get Ritsu to help you. I need to go help the others now. Try not to hurt yourselves"

With that, Toru melted back into the shadows and crept towards the fight still raging on. Deku had somehow propped himself up against one of the numerous ice shards though one of his legs was bent at an odd angle. _Broken, knowing him. _Toru acknowledged before her gaze turned to Todoroki who was starting to show how tired he was. Having backed off for a bit, the usually composed boy panted as sweat dripped from his frame and eyes narrowed at the monologuing villain opposite him. _He's barely standing—must be exhausted…and Stain knows it._

"…It's where I used to live" Drawled Stain, his cunning eyes locked onto the exhausted teen before him.

"And it's where you're going to die" Retorted Toru finally coming out of the shadows, surprising those present.

"Well, well, what's this? What a pretty little dolly to play with" Stain leered.

"Toru!" Cried Midoriya as Toru shot forth, jumping first onto an upturned rubbish bin before launching herself up onto a fire escape and looked down onto the villain below. As Stain swung at his newest opponent, Toru leapt in the air and came down on him with an axel kick to the shoulder.

When it did nothing but set the man off balance a little, Toru kicked off from his shoulders, flipping away and landing in front of her peers as Stain sized up the prettily dressed teen. "Toru! What are you doing here?!" Todoroki demanded.

"The better question is: why didn't you answer your phone?" Toru shot back, "And you!" She turned to Midoriya, "Stop breaking yourself!…Now what's his deal?"

"That's Stain: the Hero Killer" Midoriya supplied.

"Yes, I got that, thank you" Toru snarked.

"He's got a blood-type Quirk"

"So don't get cut, then?"

"This isn't funny!"

_"No,_ it's not"

"C'me on, dance for me. Dance little doll, dance" Stain interjected as the mechanical extensions on his right hand unloaded. The claw-like fingers on his right hand turned out to be five whip-like swords that extended to lengths far beyond what Toru had expected.

Toru quickly jumped back and out of the way, diving and rolling through the spaces created by the blades sent in her direction, in some cases only just narrowly avoiding the barbed chains. Spinning on her heel and with determination glinting in her eyes, Toru shot forth again, this time jumping through the spaces to get _to _Stain.

When she was close enough, Toru launched herself forward and using Stain's head as a springboard, pushed the man backwards as hard as she could. This resulted in Stain collapsing backwards into the large ice shard behind him as it in turn, fell on top of him and buried him beneath.

"Ugh!" Toru's success didn't last long however as when she landed, she fell to one knee and grasped onto the injured one.

"Toru!" Midoriya cried, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah" Toru grunted as she gripped onto her injured leg just as Stain burst out from the icy prison, finger blades flying.

"WATCH OUT!"

"MOVE!" Chorused Todoroki and Midoriya as Toru rolled out of the way and behind another shard of ice that littered the alley.

"Aw! Come on out, little dolly, don't you wanna play?" Stain taunted, creeping closer to Toru's poor hiding place.

With Stain preoccupied with being dramatic,Toru used the small window to pull any and all power from their light sources surrounding them.

"Ack!" Midoriya cried, shielding himself from the raining glass.

"Sorry" Toru apologised as she closed her eyes and sucked out as much light as she could. _Come on, just like we practised, no emotional switch, let the earthly attachments go._

"Toru?" Todoroki questioned cautiously as he watched the light twist around her form like electricity in a filament. Glowing eyes snapped open and steam floated up from the healing scratch on her leg just as the shard she was hiding behind was breached.

In a quick movement, the now glowing Toru jumped up, using an outstretched pipe as a turning point and launched herself forward towards Stain with eyes blazing. The blades spun at her in a twisting spiral and so, Toru twisted the other way, avoiding the blades as she flew closer and closer to her target. Or so she thought.

Absentmindedly, Toru heard someone agonisingly scream her name as pained ripped through her body and she dropped to the ground. Cuts littered her small body and what had remained of her wedding outfit now fluttered to the ground in little scraps, leaving only the bare bones behind. By this point, her skirt was practically a loincloth and her shirt had transformed into a tattered jacket that fluttered around her, revealing the strapless bra and sheathed green dagger beneath.

But that's not to say Stain didn't sustain injuries either, the blades that _did _touch her glowing figure. had melted away to little barbed nubs. The breath had been knocked out of Toru as she collapsed harshly on the ground, making her see stars even when Stain crept forth again prise her from the ground.

"Look at you, all broken and ugly. Who'd want to play with you now, little doll?" Stain taunted as he lifted her up the hand locked in her hair. "What's the matter, my little doll doesn't wanna play anymore?"

Toru growled and snarled her frustrations as she tried her hardest to both hit Stain and get away, but with her body hanging limply in his hands, there was not much she could do. It was a miracle that she could feel her limbs at all, actually. Some part of her noted that it was probably due to how hot her blood must be at this point—definitely too hot to handle.

"I'll turn you into a living pendant to adorn my chest—" Snarled Stain, bringing her in close. Toru's eyes searched for a way to escape as the killer continued"—And then I can hear your voice every moment of the day _pleading for mercy!"_

"RAHH!" Toru cried as she suddenly launched a heavy hand towards the hand holding her upright. When burning flesh met flesh around the villain's wrist, he dropped her to the ground once more, this time letting out his own hiss of pain.

Again, Toru landed harshly on the ground, but when pained eyes met the fearful ones of her classmates as they tried to push their exhausted bodies passed limits and beyond boundaries, she felt determination wash over her. _Gotta heal!…gotta heal! _Toru grit her teeth as the remaining lights in the area burst, shattering the glass.

From where she lay, Toru could hear the faint sounds of people shouting in surprise as glass rained down on them and the gasps of surprise from her peers as the power within them were sucked over their heads. Twisting and turning in tight streams of boiling power, Toru gratefully absorbed the light, letting it wash over her and casting the environment into a hazy glow as she tried to heal herself—at least enough for her to stop the killer behind her.

Sucking in a deep breath and with power coursing through her veins, Toru rolled over onto her stomach and forcefully pulled her legs underneath her into an awkward crouch.

"Hahaha" Stained laughed as his footsteps neared, sounding thunderous to Toru's ears. When she could practically feel him standing over her, she pushed upwards, aiming a heated hand for his head.

"HIYA!" Toru cried, instead pushing her hand through his chest, making him stumble back in pain at the sudden and unexpected impalement. His own blood dripped from many different wounds that the boys had kindly gifted him in their previous fights, but it was the sight of small dribble sliding from his lips that made Toru snarl back. "Fuck your mercy!" With an almighty heave, Toru pulled both her hand and whatever it had been clenched around as she threw herself away from the man.

"Umpf!" Toru landed with a huff as she rolled across the ground and came to a stop at Midoriya's feet. The fleshy thing that had been grasped in her hands, fell from her grip as she rolled, thrown aside as she went.

"Toru! Are you all right?" The green-haired boy worried, hands hovering over the glowing girl as she sucked in shuddering gasps of air before he had to look away from the bright light emitting from her. "Eurgh! Is that…_a heart?! Is-is that Stain's h-heart?!"_

"Is…is that it? Is it…over?" Todoroki added, his gaze not leaving the dangerous man in front of them where he now lay with a hand-sized hole in his chest.

In the meantime, steam poured from every open wound and scratch littering Toru's body and the bright light had begun to fade; though it still danced across her skin in more manageable bursts. The hazy glow that had encompassed her vision only moments earlier, had begun to darken at the edges._Whelp, _Toru thought, _This isn't good._

Though her Quirk had faded a little, each breath that she took rattled around in her chest like a marble in a tin can; coupled with the feeling of her heart jackhammering out of her chest, Toru knew she'd probably overdone it.

_'Toshi's gonna kill me…_Toru thought a little hysterically as Todoroki and Midoriya finally seemed to pull themselves together. "C'me on Midoriya, we should restrain him and get him to the street" Todoroki took charge.

"R-Right" Midoriya nodded, skirting around the still beating heart, "I'll see if I can find some rope or something"

"And we should probably take all his weapons too" Todoroki added.

"Yeah, good idea" Midoriya agreed.

"Toru, are you all right?" Todoroki crouched next to the tired girl with eyes full of worry. His eyes roved over her form, from the torn and tattered outfit to the various cuts to the gasping breaths and glowing eyes. Unable to verbally reply, Toru just shrugged her shoulders as she panted harshly.

"Can you stand?" Todoroki continued. This time Toru shook her head, knowing with her limbs feeling like jelly that there would be _no way _she could move.

Giving a quick nod, Todoroki bent over and hauled the injured brunette up onto her feet where she practically melted into him; after some quick fumbling, the icy-hot teen wrapped one arm under her legs and another around her back, pulling her to his chest bridal-style.

Despite his calm facade, worry pricked at Todoroki as Toru's head flopped against his shoulder and she continued to suck in gasping breaths as her body had begun to heat up once more as it tried to heal itself, no matter how much she tried to hide it. Glancing down, he noticed that she seemed to be fighting the tiredness that was pulling at her lids like a stubborn child.

After four knives, four knuckledusters, a dagger, the remaining whip knives, a broken katana and his heart were removed from Stain's corpse, the body was then tied up in a piece of discarded rope just in case.

Native—who had previously been propped up against the mouth of the alleyway—had regained the feeling in his limbs and had pulled MIdoriya's battered and bruised body onto his back, where the tired boy hung limply in the hero's grip. In turn, Iida not-so-gently dragged the corpse of his brother's killer behind him as he followed after Todoroki who clasped tightly to Toru's tired figure as the group slowly made their way to the mouth of the alley.

Amidst her pain of rattling breaths and hazy sight, Toru recognised that at some point a group of Pros had shown up and taken ahold of the situation. She also recognised Matchstick's fussing hands that moved enthusiastically above her as he talked—though this time they were full of worry. However, no sooner had they arrived, did the situation to sour once more.

Seemingly out of the blue, a flying Nomu swooped in upon and the group and grabbed Midoriya from where he was propped up between two Pros. Wind rocked the street like a storm and splatters of blood rained down as the creature tried to escape, despite its condition.

"Midoriya!" Cried Gran Torino, the elderly Pro that Midoriya had been interning with.

"It's bleeding!" Cried another, "It must be trying to escape!"

Though Todoroki did his best to shield the two of them from the wind swept aftershock, the two still fell to the ground in a heap. When Toru registered the words coming out the heroes' mouth and the sudden capture of Midoriya by the Nomu, familiar determination flooded through her veins.

With heavy arms laden with exhaustion and lungs sucking in rattling breaths of air, she pushed herself up enough for her to grab the Anti-Sensei dagger tucked away in the sheath at her thigh. Pulling out the green rubber dagger, Toru then—using Todoroki and Matchstick as climbing frames—pulled herself to her knees. She didn't even pause to check, trusting her aim as she fired the green weapon straight for the brainy creature flying away.

No sooner had the weapon left her fingers, did she collapse back into the fiery Pro next to her. Hands patted at her face, trying their best to keep her awake but by then all fight had flown from Toru's weak body.

And with the distant sound of a heavy _THUMP! _hitting the street not too far away followed by the shocked sounds of the people around them, Toru welcomed the darkness that had been dancing at the edges of her vision. Tired eyes closed on the worried faces crowding above her and Toru knew no more.


	26. Rule #4

** _Rule #4: The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? Tell one other person if you must, there is no third best._ **

_BLINK_

Worried faces and beeping medical equipment blurred together in a mish-mash of psychedelic colours and sounds as her body was rocked to and fro in the wailing ambulance. The person to her left let out a muffled curse when the gurney bumped into their leg as the vehicle swung around a corner.

_BLINK_

"…ow…eart rate…ear me…?" Panicked voices sounded above her; broken glass lay everywhere and a fiery hand gripped hers in a tight grip. "…onna…okay…omise, you're…be fine…!" Something smelt burnt and the once blinding light that surrounded her couldn't grow any more, though it was trying its best.

_BLINK_

The lights on the ceiling above her flickered violently and shattered into a million broken pieces as she passed by. The ceiling and electricity flowing like water as her hospital bed was rushed through the twisting hallways. A fiery hand still gripped hers, but a nurse to her left let out a curse as glass rained down upon her.

_BLINK_

A hand no longer held hers. She was encased in light that flowed down from the sky like the sun was crying tears which she absorbed like no tomorrow. Floating high above the cityscape, she felt like she could reach out and hold the fiery ball in her hands; hug it tight to her chest like a teddy bear in a child's arms. Around her, four glass walls kept her from going too far and the scent of aloe vera and catnip assaulted her senses.

_BLINK_

Toru woke—fully woke—to a heat so intense, it made the summer heatwaves in Okutama look like a child's easy-bake oven. "Oh Kami!" She croaked, fruitlessly wiping the rivulets of sweat from her brow, "What…is that?…Is—is that…me?" No sooner had she spoken, did her body fall from the height at which it had been floating.

"Ack!" Toru cried when she quickly lost altitude, bouncing once or twice on the hospital bed below her as her head snapped back giving her whiplash. "Ow!" She whined rubbing her neck at the sudden action. "Where am I?" The crisp sheets beneath her crinkled as she shifted in place and her mind began to clear from the fogginess of sleep.

_Wedding. Party. Deku. Message. Run. Native. Iida. Todoroki. Stain. Fight. Heart. Kill. _And just like that her memory snapped back into place. "Sh—shit! Did…did that really happen?" She panted, wiping her soaking brow yet again. Gazing out from underneath sweaty lashes Toru saw that she was placed in some kind of greenhouse atop someone's roof. A butterfly fluttered across her vision, dancing from plant to plant as it ate without a care in the world and the sun rose high in the sky.

This was all Toru was able to process before the environment became too hot for even her to bare. Ripping herself from the crisp white sheets, Toru tumbled from the bed and scrambled towards the glass door on her left. In her hurry to escape the boiling room, she didn't even notice the person propped up against the door until she tripped over them.

"Gah! Oompf!" Toru cried when her bandaged foot became caught and she fell head first over top of the once sleeping person.

"Ack! Toru!" Came the masculine cry as hands grappled at her figure, "You're okay!"

"Ugh!…More or less" She grumbled. Glancing up from the person's lap, Toru got a eyeful of familiar indigo-coloured locks, "…'Toshi?" Toru's eyes roved over Shinso's perpetually tired form. He still wore his wedding attire from the day before and his usually untameable hair was still as wild as ever.

"Thank Kami, you're okay!" Shinso pulled Toru into a bear-tight hug as his fingers dug into the flimsy material of her hospital robe.

" 'Toshi what are you doing here?" Toru returned the hug, tucking her head into his shoulder.

"What the _hell _were you thinking?!" Shinso suddenly pulled back from the hug and whacked her in the chest. "You could've been killed! Or worse!"

"Ow!" Toru whined, grabbing the front of her shirt where he had hit her. Shinso's face morphed back into one of concern and relief as he pulled her back into another hug. He gripped her tight as if she would disappear if he didn't.

"What's going on, Toru?" Shinso mumbled into her shoulder.

"…I-I-I can't tell you" Toru stammered, tears collecting in the corner of her eyes as the reality of the situation began to really sink in. _He'd hate me if he knew what I did!_

"Why not?"

"I-I just…I c-can't…_'Toshi!" _Toru cried, hers shoulders shaking as she quietly cried into his shoulder. His grip tightened on her, holding her close as she became undone.

Together the two sat in each other's embrace on the hospital roof, holding tight to one another as the morning sun shone down its warm rays and in turn embracing everything below. Family—not by blood, but by choice—as they silently comforted the other on the precipice of secrets untold.

* * *

Following her wake-up call, Toru was herded into a black leather-bound wheelchair and carted down to one of the nursing stations and handed off to one of the attending nurses. Once there, it didn't take long for Toru to change hands and she was carted off towards the cardiologist department.

The morning was filled with the jovial chatter of Doctor Moto Yui and a multitude of heart-related tests. It had been a blur of needles, beeping machines and busybodies moving to and fro, inspecting her body without any sense of morality. To quote Dr Moto, she was just "…the most interesting specimen! So many uses for such a simple Quirk! So powerful and _dangerous!"_

It was safe to say that Toru hadn't particularly enjoyed the many eyes on her nor tests that had been performed that morning. _Thank Kami that's over! _Toru yawned widely, slumping further into her wheelchair before she took another bite of her cross-hatched mango. Dr Moto hadn't left her to wait in the conference room for long, but the morning's rigorous activities seemed to be catching up with Toru and exhaustion pulled at her heavy lids.

Just out of reach, sat a clipboard containing several sheets of paper that held some of the test results from the exams she had completed earlier in the day. First the blood test: that had been done in order to measure the other substances in her blood like cholesterol, and make sure that her heart muscle remained intact. Thankfully, the tests had come back fine with everything in working order.

Next had been the electrocardiogram or ECG which was supposed to read her heart's electrical impulses and make sure that there weren't any abnormalities involving her heartbeat. With all the small sticky dots and wires covering her chest and limbs, Toru had felt like some kind of odd robot.

Dr Moto had been shocked at what the results had shown him, which was odd considering he _knew _that her Quirk involved (electrical) light absorption/manipulation and therefore it was only logical she would have more electrical frequent impulses than others. _I mean, 'Toshi even said he was the one who put me on the rooftop when I arrived!_

After that had been the echocardiogram ultrasound. Despite its rather long and complicated name, it was a rather common test which took a picture of her heart using the ultrasound as some kind of x-ray. She had adamantly refused the probe down her throat despite Dr Moto's persistence. The results for this too, had come back fine.

And finally, Toru had been given a physical exam which—amongst the usual tests—had involved her performing something call a 'stress test'. All this had meant was that this particular ECG test was done while exercising. Dr Moto had placed her on a treadmill, instructing her to first walk and then run. First she did this without the use of her Quirk, and then with it.

It was supposed to see how well her heart did when physically active. For this test, only a single note had been written in barely legible handwriting, explaining that if she went too far overboard when using her Quirk anymore, then she could experience some very dire consequences—even if her life expectancy still had a few years left. Aside from that, the only other notes were on how her physical wounds had healed—all the medical staff seemed baffled by how she had done it without even consciously thinking about it.

But that wasn't what was driving the butterflies to flutter in anxious hordes around her stomach. Fingering one of the sticky nodes still stuck to her chest, Toru anxiously nibbled at her lower lip as she worried. _There's no way I can explain my way out of this! _Toru's nerves grew, outweighing her exhaustion as she waited for Nezu (UA's headmaster), Detective Tsukauchi and Karasuma to arrive. _Kami! What are they going to do to me? There's no way I can go home! Not now—Mother'll kill me! Maybe I can plead self-defence?_

A rapid knock on the door caused Toru to jump in her seat as she turned from the window she had been looking out of, to face the door where UA's short headmaster and Tsukauchi was standing. Karasuma-Sensei (thankfully) was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't mean much; if anything, it gave Toru only a little bit of relief as he wasn't yet there.

" 'ullo Hagakure" Nezu greeted as he padded into the room.

"…Hello Nezu-Sensei" Toru bobbed her head in a quick nod, her figure tense. Her eyes followed the little white rodent the entire way as he cheerily headed towards the trolley at the back of the room which contained the tea things.

"How are you?" Golden eyes followed sharp and practised movements as he poured the kettle and deftly spun the teaspoon between his fingers.

"…Uh…g-good" By this point, Toru's hands had fisted themselves into the scratchy woollen blanket draped across her lap, in an order to stop them from visibly shaking. Across from her, Tsukauchi had situated himself on the other side of the conference table; where the detective pulled out some sort of recording device and a notepad with matching knobbly pencil.

"Alright, Hagakure—" Nezu stood on his tiptoes to place his decorative china teacup on the table before unceremoniously climbing onto the chair next to her like a toddler."—We're just here to talk, okay?"

"…" Toru didn't reply, but her gaze anxiously swept from the people around her as she furiously tapped her pointer finger against her knee in an attempt to calm her nerves.

"Whenever you're ready, Tsukauchi" Nezu nodded towards the detective who flipped over to a blank new page in his notebook and pressed play on the recording device.

"I-I thought Karasuma-Sensei was s'posed to be here?" Toru interjected, stalling for time just as the detective opened his mouth to begin.

"Well, we can start now and catch him up later when he arrives" Tsukauchi suggested, eager to get things underway.

"No need" Interjected Karasuma, announcing his arrival from the doorway, "I'm here"

_Shit! _Toru tried her best to slide down in her seat, tugging part of the blanket up over her face in an attempt to hide from the furious agent.

"Just because I can't see you, doesn't mean I know you're not there" Karasuma crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her, looking every bit as intimidating as she remembered. "I thought I told you not to get involved in something like this again"

"A-ah well,—you see—" Toru stammered as she sheepishly fiddled with the hem of the blanket in her hands.

"I don't wanna hear it" Karasuma pulled out the chair to Toru's right, at the end of the table and sat down.

"Yessir" Toru abashedly murmured, unable to meet his eyes.

"Just answer the detective's questions and we can be on our way" He sighed, running a hand through his messy locks.

"But-but I thought I wasn't allowed to talk about _those _kind of things? That's what the gag order was for"

"Not anymore" Karasuma carelessly chucked a slim manilla folder onto the table between the two parties, "Gag order was officially removed this morning"

_"__Really?" _Toru's head snapped upwards as she searched her former sensei's face for any signs of deception. In turn, Nezu waisted no time in leaning across the table to grab the manilla folder and read through it before anyone else.

"Really" He grunted, leaning back in his chair.

"Huh" Toru leant back in her own seat and stared down at her lap in thought._ It's gone? Just like that?_

"Ah-hem!" Tsukauchi interrupted impatiently.

"Ah—yes?" Toru's head snapped up to meet the detective's expectant expression.

"I've got a few questions for you now, if you're ready?"

"Um, yup—uh, y-yes"

"Good" Tsukauchi nodded, "Can you state your name for the record?"

"Hagakure Toru"

"Birthday?"

"Uh, June sixteenth"

"Age?"

"Fifteen"

"Quirk?"

"Prism, I can…uh…I'm, uh, invisible and can manipulate/absorb light"

"Right" Tsukauchi nodded, rapidly writing all the information down, "Now can you tell me everything that happened?"

"Like '_everything' _everything? Or just the stuff involving Stain?" Toru questioned.

"Let's start with the events leading up to it"

"Okay, um, I was attending a wedding of a family friend—"

"—Is this the one you asked to take leave for?" Tsukauchi interrupted.

"Uh huh" Toru nodded, "Shinso Ichika and Noah Davies"

"And you've known them how long?"

"Uh, I'd never met Noah before, but I've known Ichika for about…five years now? She's part of my donor's family"

"Donor?" Tsukauchi paused at this, his concerned gaze meeting her anxious one.

"Uh yeah" Toru nodded, "My heart—I had the transplant when I was ten"

"Right…Continue"

"Um, where was I? Oh yeah! I went to the wedding with Shinso Hitoshi, we left around mid-morning I think? Um, I said goodbye to Matchstick and Todoroki who were going with a couple of other heroes from the Endeavour agency to patrol around Hosu—they were waiting in the lobby when we left. Um, towards the end of the reception I got a mass text from Midoriya. It didn't say anything—it was just his GPS location on a map"

"And then you left?"

"No, I, uh, replied to his text first—I asked what he meant and when he didn't reply, I called him. Midoriya's usually pretty good with replying to messages and the like—I mean he worries more than Isago, which I never thought possible, but y'know…"

Out of the corner of her eye, Toru could've sworn that Karasuma's lips twitched upwards at the last comment. "…Anyway, when I called him, he didn't reply but I could hear the sounds of intense fighting on the other end" Toru continued.

"And _that's _when you left?"

"Yeah, I saw that I wasn't far from where the map was pointing and I thought it was better to check it out, just in case, y'know? I mean worse case scenario he was fighting a villain on patrol with the hero he was interning with, right?"

"Hmm" Tsukauchi nodded, flipping over to a new page "What happened when you arrived at the scene?"

"Ummm, when I got there Todoroki seemed to be the only one still standing, but just barely. Midoriya, Iida and Native were all injured in some way and Stain seemed to have taken some serious damage but was still standing"

"And how were you able to see all this if you had just arrived at the scene? How were you not spotted by Stain?"

"Ah, I went via the roofs. When I got there, there was clearly signs of a fight—large shards of ice covered a lot of the alleyway so it was pretty easy to hide myself. Also y'know the whole invisibility thing and previous stealth training" At this Toru nodded in Karasuma's direction. "After assessing the situation, I removed Native first from the scene and then Iida and placed them at the entrance to the alleyway, where it met the street. Uh, I tended to what wounds I could and then had Ritsu call any heroes in the area for assistance"

"Ritsu?" Tsukauchi questioned.

"Ah yeah, she's a uh, AIFA—or at least originally, but I used the mobile version" Toru explained.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh! It stands for Autonomously Intelligent Fixed Artillery"

"…Right…"

"Anyway, after I had Ritsu send out the call, I returned to where Todoroki, Midoriya and Stain still were. Uh, I engaged Stain in battle—he seemed to have sustained some serious injuries by this point and his stamina was waning. Ah, we fought for a bit and then he was able to injure me enough that I couldn't move too well"

"And how were you able to circumvent Stain's Quirk?"

"Ah well, at one point I had moved back to heal a couple of scratches that I had—Midoriya and Native had mentioned beforehand that he used a blood-control Quirk so I assumed that if I healed fast enough I'd be okay…"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh well, when I heal, I absorb the light around me as well as whatever's already in my body. Kinda like I'm photosynthesising, y'know? So I guess my blood got to the point where it was too hot to handle, even for Stain"

"Hmm. And then?"

"After I reengaged Stain in a fight, it didn't take long for him to cut me down, but I uh, was able to move enough to land a final hit"

"By tearing out his heart?"

"I, uh, had been aiming for his head, but I misjudged it. The next bit's kinda blurry" Toru furrowed her brow in thought as she tried to remember what had happened after that, "I remember Todoroki bringing me over to the entrance of the alley and the arrival of the Pros…Ah, something grabbed Midoriya…a Nomu? I think? So I, uh, threw one of my daggers in the general direction of it"

"Your daggers?"

"Uh, it was an Anti-Sensei dagger"

"And do you always carry these…Anti-Sensei daggers around?"

"Uh, no not usually, but I took to carrying one of them around ever since the USJ incident"

"Uh huh. Anything else?" Tsukauchi pursued.

"Uh, no" Toru scrunched up her nose as she tried to figure out any further details, "No, that's it"

"Right" Tsukauchi nodded, flipping through all the notes he already had, "Just a few more questions before we move on, okay?"

"O-okay" Toru yawned widely.

"Does anyone else know about your involvement in the Kunugigaoka Junior High, Class 3-E case, regarding any other information?"

"Uh, beside my mother and my grandparents? I think Todoroki might have an idea" Toru replied from beneath her blanket.

"You told him?" Nezu piped up.

"No" Toru replied sharply, "But, uh, Todoroki's one conspiracy theory away from a stringed cork board and a tinfoil hat" Karasuma smirked at that, "I mean, he still thinks Midoriya is All Might's lovechild and that I'm some kind of Yakuza princess, so there's _that. _But no, I didn't tell him_"_

* * *

Toru's head bobbed up and down as she tried her best to keep herself awake; taking long languidly lizard-blinks, she was thankful when Detective Tsukauchi eventually ended the interrogation. Her phone had been returned to her at some point, seemingly buzzing every couple of seconds as someone messaged her. A quick glance at her home screen showed several messages from the 3-E group chat and a couple from the 1-A group chat—though most of the latter messages had been well-wishers.

Following this, it was Nezu who turned to the tired brunette in the doorway of the conference room and asked her something that had been burning in his mind for some time now. "Hagakure—" He began.

"Hm?" Toru blinked blearily up at the rodent headmaster before her.

"Did you enjoy killing Stain?"

"Sir, tell me something" Toru sat up a little as she turned to the rodent headmaster "Have you ever had to watch the light disappear from someone's eyes? Have you ever held them as they died? Was it you who killed them? No? So how can you _ever ask _me if I enjoyed it?"

"Are you freely admitting to killing someone, Hagakure?" Nezu questioned.

"Of course, it's not a secret and I never hid it to begin with, y'know" Toru relaxed into the wheelchair, more tired than she originally thought. "If you had the initiative to look into my background, you'd see that. Of course, since you're the headmaster to hero academy full of bull-headed heroes, you'd also probably assume I was a little villainess.

And you'd be right, of course. Because on paper, I'm the perfect little villainess: trained at a young age, first kill before 16 years, breaking and entering, torture, exposure and connections to seedy underground; I could go on…" Toru sighed, running a slightly illuminated hand over her face and through her hair, "But real life's not theoretical, is it? There's _always _more to the story, even if you don't like it"

Nezu didn't speak as Toru continued to ramble, simply watching the girl in front of him with beady little eyes trained on her. However, out in the hall both Karasuma and Tsukauchi stood tense and stiff as they froze in their positions. Karasuma seemingly taking offence at the jab towards the government agency in which he worked for and Tsukauchi who appeared offended by the notion that she was a likely candidate for an infiltrating villain.

"…You have to understand, of course, that this decision had to pass through _several _politicians and higher ups before it even fell into our laps. All those military men with rifles and fighter jets and missiles couldn't land on a single hit on him, so what were the chances that a bunch of school children would? I mean the guy blew up the _fucking _moon! Did anyone _really _think it through? Were we just scapegoats? I guess what I'm really asking, is whose _fucking _idea was it to turn _kids _into _killers? _'Cause I still don't know"

"And yet, you still defend him as your teacher. Why?" Nezu asked.

"Because he gave us the one thing that no one else did"

"And what was that?"

"A second chance"


	27. Rule #7

** _Rule #7: Always be specific when you lie._ **

** _It's been two days since the incident with Stain: the Hero Killer and five days since class 1-A had started our internships._ **

All things considered, the punishment that Toru had received was more a slap on the wrist than anything else. Nezu had explained that she would receive a week of suspension, two weeks of community service (to be decided upon at a later date) and she had been enrolled into the _Dancing for Delinquents _programme that UA ran.

Apparently the idea behind the dance classes was to take the kids who would usually spend their detention slots whittling away the hours, in doing something more productive. The class of delinquents was split into pairs/groups (chosen for them), given a style of dance and the deadline (the school gala) in which they were to perform in front of the whole school.

As far as she could understand, it was supposed to teach the students teamwork, patience, self-confidence and determination among other things—or at least that's what the obnoxiously bright pamphlet said.

** _Everyone on the news is obsessed with the Hero killer. The story being reported is that eight Pro Heroes and four high school students stumbled upon him. Then Endeavour rushed in and took care of the situation all by himself, of course that's just the official report from the Police department._ **

After the interrogation with Nezu, Tsukauchi and Karasuma, Toru had been met with Matchstick and Hitoshi who had all but pounced on her the moment they had stepped through the door. A flurry of questions were relentlessly fired at her, whilst bony fingers pawed at her tired frame, turning her this way and that as she was inspected for any lingering injuries.

When she had been deemed well enough by both the mother hens, she had been escorted by the pair down to the boys' room. Upon reaching the assigned room, she had found, to her surprise, Kayano pestering the blushing and awestruck boys with intense questions in a chirpy tone. At her arrival, it was soon discovered that both Rio and Karma were left to the wander the hospital together _alone. _Panic was not quite the word that Toru would've used.

** _The chief was true to his word. Myself, Midoriya, Todoroki and Iida were never named in connection to the Hero Killer with our injuries explained away as accidents procured during our internships._ **

When Kayano had dragged Hitoshi off to find where the troublemakers, Rio and Karma were hiding (Toru suspected that they were scouring the cafeteria for wasabi, mustard and hot sauce packets), the Police Chief Tsuragamae Kenji, Manual, Gran Torino and Matchstick sat the four of the high school students down to talk.

They had been lectured about how Quirks were used by licensed heroes, and the strict code of ethics that went along with it. They had been told that each of their supervisors would receive gross punishments for the illegal use of their powers. They had chosen to have Endeavour take the acclaim for the incident, so—aside from Toru—the boys got off lightly. Tsuragamae had even formally thanked them for their efforts.

Following that, Iida returned home so that his mother could take of care him there. The test results he had received that day showed that one of his arms had been so seriously damaged that they were unsure if it would ever be fixed.

Midoriya remained in the hospital for the rest of the week, due to the severity of his injuries. Toru was almost convinced that Recovery Girl had reserved an infirmary bed specifically for the green-haired boy back at UA, just because he spent so much time in there, whether intentional or not.

Todoroki's injuries weren't all that bad and he returned to his internship with his father for the rest of the week. He had all but stated that he was returning only to spite his father, who despite getting the public's praise for the takedown of the Hero Killer, never even laid a finger on the man. He had also promised to retrieve Toru's items from the agency.

As for Toru, after a rather heated wheelchair race down the hall between herself and her friends (she was convinced that Rio and Karma had cheated!), she had been declared well enough to be discharged. Following that, she remained glued to the couch in Aizawa-Sensei's apartment where she slept away the last two days buried beneath a mountain of cats and mothered by a combination of Hitoshi (who stopped by on Sunday and was still there), Present Mic (who Toru was convinced was more than just Aizawa-Sensei's colleague; seeing as he had barged in and had filled the fridge with all kinds of home-cooking like soup and sandwiches without being told twice) and Aizawa-Sensei who also spent most of the weekend asleep, although that wasn't unusual.

* * *

"Hold still" Hitoshi scolded keeping a hold of her ankle so that he could finish the little purple and yellow flowers he had been painting on each of her toe nails.

"Sorry" Toru apologised quietly when she shifted slightly. An absentminded hand ran through the thick fur of the purring Kenta who lay on her stomach, as she watched the latest video making the rounds on the dark net. It turned out to be a propaganda video of Stain: the Hero Killer and Ritsu had flagged it before she had sent her a notification with a link to the video. Readjusting the earphone in her ear, Toru pressed play on her phone and the video began to stream.

An image of Stain appeared on the title card with his name in both English and Kanji, before it was wiped clean with the sound of gunshots and several cartoon splotches of blood appearing on the screen.

_"The Hero Killer, Stain. Real name: Chizome Akaguro. As a child he was greatly inspired by All Might's debut. He enrolled in a private hero high school but was dismayed at what he viewed as educational skewed system of what it meant to be a hero._

Several news images were shown in powerpoint format as kanji floated up the screen and a young masculine voice narrated the short clip.

_Throughout his teenager years, Chizome advocated for a return to the early days of heroes, but quickly realised that words had no power. For the next ten years, he trained in killing techniques in order to fulfil his self-appointed duty. During this time, his parents passed away and police eventually ruled this as a tragic accident._

_His focus was on a return to the old days. He believed heroes should not seek compensation, that one should optimise the idea of 'self-sacrifice'. He believed that present day Pros were frauds and through his violent purges, he hoped society would eventually side with him"_

Here, the video showed a fuzzy clip of Stain perched on the edge of a building, his raspy voice loud and clear over the video. _"…These streets…MUST RUN WITH THE BLOOD OF THESE HYPOCRITES! HERO! I WILL RECLAIM THAT WORD! COME ON! JUST TRY AND STOP ME YOU FAKES! THERE IS ONLY ONE PERSON I'LL LET KILL ME! HE IS A TRUE HERO! ALL MIGHT IS WORTHY!"_

Clicking out of the site, Toru let her phone collapse against her chest, nibbling at her lower lip, she let her thoughts turn inwards. It scared Toru, how much of her own views and teachings were reflected in Stain's.


	28. Rule #45

** _Rule #45: Clean up the mess you made_ **

It was odd going to school, but not going to class. Whilst her classmates were busy with schoolwork and internships, Toru— dressed in her old khaki gym shirt from Kunugigaoka Junior High and a pair of high-waisted denim shorts—was frog-marched by the headmaster over to the cafeteria where she was met by Lunch Rush, the school's chef.

"For the next two weeks, you'll be working with Lunch Rush in the cafeteria; preparing meals, cleaning dishes and serving students!" Nezu chirped, before waving fare-well.

"Uh, right…" Said Toru as the rodent-bear skipped off to do who knows what, "I look forward to working with you" Toru bowed to the Pro Hero who in turn gave her two thumbs up in reply. He then presented her with a hair net, a pair of disposable gloves and an apron that read: _'Go Beyond! Plus Ultra!' _in flowery lettering.

The apron was a little large on her small frame and Toru felt a little bit like a kid playing dress-up in her parents clothes. After tying the apron around herself like a present, Toru was quickly herded towards the back of the kitchen where a small box TV sat mounted above the microwave.

Lunch Rush silently gestured for her to wait in front of it as he reached up and turned the TV on. The black screen gave way to the faded image of two fast food workers dressed in cheesy company uniforms. They wore baggy striped shirts, poorly folded paper hats, and the fellow on the right wore the widest face-cracking smile that Toru had ever seen on a human being. It was almost like he believed he could cure cancer with that smile.

The title card showed one worker wiping down the front counter as he grinned like the world depended on it, and the other worker sat on the counter, with his pants riding low and showing his butt-crack to the camera. The title simply read:

_ THE STORY OF STUPID AND STUDIOUS _

_"Stupid is friendly but he doesn't follow directions well…" _Prattled the narrator as Stupid hopped off of the counter and turned to wave enthusiastically at the camera. _"…Now Studious always does his job by the book…" _Here, Studious waved at the camera whilst Stupid blew his nose into his cloth and then proceeded to wipe down the counter with it.

_"…This is how the book says to do it: wipe left to right…" _Another title card popped up, this time it pictured an image of Lunch Rush pointing up towards the words above him:

_ REMEMBER TO ALWAYS WIPE LEFT TO RIGHT! _

_"Looks like a big order just came in. 'Let me help, guys!' says Studious…" _Studious was shown helping one of his co-workers with preparing the order of food. _"…'But wait a second! Where's Stupid?" _The video cut to Stupid sitting on the toilet and laughing jovially at something he read in the magazine in his hands. _"…What do you know about that?"_

Zooming out, the camera showed that Studious was now in the stall next to Stupid. _"Let's see what happens here!" _Studious made to leave but turned back to the sink with a overly dramatic shrug. _"…'Uh oh! I was in such a hurry to get back to work, I almost forgot!" _The next Lunch Rush title card popped up:

_ REMEMBER TO ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS! _

_"That'a boy, Studious!" _Studious cheerily—and a little creepily—vigorously washed his hands. "_…'Hey there Stupid! You're supposed to wash your hands after using the facilities!' _Studious scolded Stupid who turned to leave the bathroom without washing his hands.

_'Ha! No way, Studious! That's for squares!' " _Stupid fired back, drawing the shape in the air.

The screen then transitioned into Stupid and Studious next a line of colour-coded wheelie bins. Both workers had a variety of rubbish bags in their hands, but it was Stupid who made the first move. He went to put all of his bags in the one bin before Studious intervened. _"…'Hold on, Stupid! That's not where they go!"_

_ REMEMBER GENERAL RUBBISH GOES IN THE RED BIN! _

Here, Studious picked up two black bags of general rubbish and put them in the red bin at the end of the row.

_ REMEMBER RECYCLING GOES IN THE YELLOW BIN! _

Next, Studious tipped the paper, plastic bottles and aluminium cans in to the yellow bin in the middle.

_ REMEMBER GLASS GOES IN THE BLUE BIN! _

Studious poured the small bin full of empty and chipped glass bottles and other items into the blue-colour wheelie bin.

_ REMEMBER COMPOST GOES INTO THE GREEN BIN! _

The last bin in the row was the smallest and was filled with decomposable food scraps such as egg shells and onion peels.

* * *

Following her introduction to Lunch Rush, the tour around the school's kitchen and all of the etiquette lessons fit for a lady that were drilled into her head, Toru found herself traversing the halls looking for the dance hall in which the last half of her punishment was to take place. That was, if she could find the blasted room in the first place.

"Goddammit! Where is it?" Toru muttered under her breath as she readjusted her bag strap over her shoulder and triple-checked the directions on the piece of paper in her hands for the umpteenth time since the bell had rung for the end of the school day. Navigating the school halls when they were empty were a hassle in of itself, but when they were full of bustling bodies way taller than she was? She may as well have just thrown in the towel, to be honest.

"Hey! Do you need some help?" A bored voice called from above her, breaking her from her frustrations. Glancing up Toru saw that the older teen in front of her was a student (if only recognisable by the rumpled shirt and tie that hung loosely around his neck like a noose). His short and wiry build meant that he was one of the few people Toru didn't have to crane her neck back just to look at him.

Dark beady eyes peered out at her from their perch above his crooked nose and beneath the bright pink hair buzzed down to fuzzy stubble that encompassed his head like shorn cotton balls. Another thing to note was that from beneath his school uniform, Toru could have almost sworn she could see a multitude of mouths decorating his skin; from his neck to his palms and back again.

"Hey! Anyone home?" He clicked his fingers in front of her face. Toru blinked rapidly as she was brought out of her musings.

"Uh, yeah, um…" Toru stumbled over her words as she stepped back a little, "I'm, uh, looking for…dance hall 3-G?"

"Oh hey! I'm heading that way too, just come with me!"

"Uh, okay…" Toru readjusted her bag once more and hurried to catch up with the boy as he strode away.

"So…what'cha in for?"

"Huh?" Toru glanced up at the boy who remained slouched over as he moved. He looked eerily like Aizawa-Sensei when he did that, actually.

"The dance classes, what'cha in for?"

"Oh, uh, I, uh hit someone a bit harder than I meant to" Toru fibbed.

"Really?" He laughed, "That's pathetic!"

"He's in the hospital" _More specifically, the morgue. _Toru thought.

"Oh. Shit. Yeah, no that's more like it"

"What about you?"

"Hm?"

"What are you in for?"

"…Oh look! We're here!" The teen avoided her question and ducked inside the large door with the number engraved on the front. _What is it with UA and large doors?_ Toru thought as she easily dismissed the older teen's avoidance of her question. It's not like she actually answered his questions anyway, not truthfully at least.

Inside, Toru found herself nervously sheltering in one of the back corners of the chapel-sized dance hall as the other delinquents filtered out into familiar groups that clustered together around the hall. A large stained glass window depicting a field of flowers, sat amongst a clutter of frosted windows at one end of the hall.

One wall was dedicated to floor-to-ceiling mirrors and wooden bars ran the circumference of the room, broken up only by the doors. Several posters were scattered along the white-washed walls; some of them promoted long-forgotten productions whilst others showed cheesy motivational images like the cat hanging from a tree.

Two loud claps brought the class to attention and drew Toru's focus towards Midnight who stood at the front of the room, not in her hero gear, but instead in a retro dance outfit. She wore a bright red leotard that stuck to her body like a second skin, underneath that she wore purple tights and matching leg warmers. A long stretch from what she usually wore and yet it still seemed more inappropriate, for some reason.

"Alright class!" Midnight called, "You all know how this goes, but let me break it down for you new timers" The class seemed to collectively groan as Toru shrank back a little at the reaction. "Right! So for the foreseeable you'll be gathering here, at this time everyday after school to practise your dances. You'll be able to use them outside of those times if you wish, but _everyone—" _Here she sent a pointed look towards a blonde girl on her left, "—must be in attendance and participating. Got it?"

"Yes, Sensei" The class droned, many of them rolling their eyes before they moved off into their little friendship groups.

"Right, now let's see, who hasn't got a partner…" Midnight prowled amongst the clusters of students as they pretended to work, until she came upon the small brunette hiding in the corner. Tightly clasping Toru's shoulder, she pulled her out of her little cubby hole and directed her over to the other students, ignorant of Toru's increasing nerves "Hagakure why don't you go with…ah!Oishii, c'me 'ere!"

Glancing up from her sweaty palms, Toru came face to face with the taller teen who brought her to the dance hall. "Toru, Oishii. Oishii, Toru" Midnight introduced the two, unaware they had already met but had not exchanged names. "You two will be partners this year—ah! I don't want any excuses!" Midnight cut Oishii off when he went to retort.

"…Fine" Oishii drawled, "What'll we be doing?"

"Hmm…" Midnight turned back to the rest of the class as they waited for the answer. Quickly whipping out a scrap of paper from the pouch at her hip, Midnight announced what style of dance the class would be doing. "Tango"

"C'me on! Seriously?" Several grumbles sounded from the class, most of them from the guys gathered.

"What the hell is that?"

"Figure it out" Midnight snarked.

"Great, thanks, wonderful teaching, Sensei"

* * *

Day two of cafeteria duty saw Toru continuously chopping and peeling vegetables for the lunchtime rush. Lunch Rush didn't seem to talk much, if he could at all, but Toru enjoyed her time with him anyway.

Despite the lack of talking, his loud personality more than made up for what he didn't (or couldn't) say. And let's not forget, the little hand-held radio that sat above the sink and always seemed to be rattling some kind of old rock 'n roll station—not that Toru minded of course.

Day three had Toru scrubbing down a multitude of tables and running up and down the cafeteria with a mop and single bucket of soapy water as her weapon of choice.

Day four found her elbow-deep in soapy water as she scrubbed down the mountain of dishes that were used by both staff and students. Although the kitchen was stocked with an industrial washing machine, Lunch Rush had defended that a little bit of elbow grease wouldn't hurt anybody. Or at least that's what Toru had understood the gestures and pointing to be.

Day five saw Toru serving her fellow students, dressed in a hair net and apron as she bustled about the kitchen, dancing around Lunch Rush who seemed to produce more meals than even humanly possible in such a short amount of time.

Oishii had grinned at her grouchy appearance framed by the little pick-up window that separated the kitchen from the rest of the cafeteria. Over the past week during their little dance classes, Toru had quickly learned that as lazy and chilled out as Oishii appeared to be, he was also rather quick-witted and sharp-tongued, usually teasing her much like a sibling would. Of course, no one could deny that she gave it right back to him.

On the sixth and seventh days, Toru had been made to come in earlier to help prepare all the meals for the students who boarded at UA. Many of the dorm rooms had their own working facilities that the students used throughout the school week, but the school also provided the students with free meals over the weekends.

The week after, it was rinse and repeat. And soon enough two weeks had flown by.


	29. Rule #41

** _Rule #41: Anything can be a weapon if you polish it enough_ **

_I bust the windows out ya car  
_ _After I saw you laying next to her  
_ _I didn't wanna but I took my turn  
_ _I'm glad I did it cause you had to learn  
_ _I must admit it helped a little bit  
_ _To think of how you'd feel when you saw it_

"…The tango was revolutionary in the mid 19th century—" Nejire lectured as Oishii and Toru spun around the dance hall, dancing along to the chosen song that blasted from the speakers. Both dancers were pressed close to one another, which was a problem since a fair amount of toe-stomping seemed to be going on. "—Because it was the first time a melting pot of cultures from every working class came together when they danced. It was a scandalous display of public intimacy"

"Public intimacy? I like it" Smirked Oishii as the pair danced passed Midnight, Amajiki Tamaki, Hado Nejire and Togata Mirio of UA's Big Three. (Really, it was only Nejire who needed to be there having volunteered her dancing expertise, but the other two had followed after her like puppies).

_I didn't know that I had that much strength  
_ _But I'm glad you see what happens when  
_ _You see can't just play with people's feelings  
_ _Tell them you love them and don't mean it_

"COUNT!" Midnight called.

"1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3—" Toru and Oishii chorused as they twisted once more.

"Ow! Stop bloody stepping on me!" Toru complained when her vulnerable toes came in contact with the underside of Oishii's loafers. "He's doing it again!"

"That's not true! You just keep putting your feet underneath mine when I lift them up" Oishii retorted as he ignored the soft chuckles coming from the third years.

"Oh yeah?! Y'know where I'm gonna put my foot next?" Toru fired back.

"Why are we doing this?" Oishii squeaked a little as he turned to the group gathered off to the side.

_You'll probably say that it was juvenile  
__But I think that I deserve to smile  
__I bust the windows out ya car  
__"Because _you two need to face each other and try to work together" Nejire explained.

"We _do _work together" Toru replied, sweaty, tired and sore from all the (accidental) toe stomping they had been doing over the passed couple of hours. School hadn't even started yet.

"Yes, but not always harmoniously" Midnight added; her thoughts drifting to the earlier lessons where the two had fallen into similar toe-stomping and sailor-cursing patterns.

"Can't we do something like synchronised swimming instead?" Oishii suggested.

"Oishii!" Toru glared at her partner.

"What? It's just like this, except you'd be in a bikini" Oishii grinned dreamily as his thoughts turned inwards.

"Ouch! Hey!" Toru whacked Oishii up the back of the head, grabbing his attention when the teen stepped on her _again._

_"Grace!" _Nejire called.

"Sorry! I was…thinking about bikinis" Oishii defended weakly. Toru held no qualms about hitting him again. "I'm listening!"

_You know I did it cause I left my mark  
_ _Wrote my initials with the crowbar  
_ _And then I drove off into the dark  
_ _I bust the windows out ya car  
_ _I bust the windows out ya car!_

"Ready?" Oishii started up the count once more, "1, 2, 3, 4…"

"Posture, grace, floating as one" Nejire coached as the two spun passed.

"It's kinda hard to float when you're in stilettos" Toru complained, memories of torturous dance lessons with Bitch-Sensei flitting through her mind.

"Think of your partner"

"Well, it's kinda hard when all she keeps talking about are stilettos and bikinis" Oishii replied.

"M-maybe Hagakure should lead?" Tamaki suggested, his eyes flitting around the room.

"Isn't that what she's doing?" Mirio joked with a grin.

"Really?" Nejire turned on her two friends with a wicked gleam in her eye, " 'Cause I would _love _to teach the two of you the traditional Viennese Waltz, with each other as partners"

"Ha ha!" Oishii and Toru had stopped dancing by this point and were both tentatively laughing at the image Nejire had painted.

"She's kidding…right?" Mirio laughed, turning to Tamaki for reassurance.

"She's not kidding" Tamaki replied, as Mirio's face dropped at the implication of what was about to happen.

"Mirio…" Nejire stalked closer to the blonde, "…Take your partner by the waist; back straight…" By this point Tamaki had grown rather red in the face as Nejire continued on, cool as a cucumber, "…Do I need to repeat myself?"

"Neji…!" Mirio whined.

"N-Nejire…!" Tamaki warned, backing off slightly as the bluenette grinned.

** _BRRRING! BRRING!_ **

"Looks like you'll have to torture them another time, Hado" Midnight chuckled as the warning bell sounded, letting the students know they only had a couple of minutes until class officially started.

"Saved by the bell!" Tamaki muttered under his breath as he shared a look of relief with Mirio. The blonde was usually up for anything (particularly as his Quirk resulted in him getting naked more often than not), but they both knew their friend well, and what that wicked look usually meant. Images of Mirio in scarlet heels sent the ravenette spluttering as the group began to gather their things.

"If you two hurry, you might be able to wash up before you get to class—" Midnight called over her shoulder as she swept out of the dance hall. "And make sure to clean the heels, Hagakure!"

"Yes, Sensei!" Toru sighed happily as she peeled off the sky-high torture devices and pulled a face at the glorious rings of sweat staining soles when she peered inside.

"C'me on, Sunshine! Race ya to the showers! Last one there's a rotten egg!" Oishii suddenly rushed passed with a teasing grin playing on his lips.

"HEY! CHEATER!"

* * *

Following the announcement of the ever-approaching exam week, Toru found herself locked inside the furthest toilet stall from the door, in one of the rarely used bathrooms at lunch. Her packed lunch sat in its paper bag atop the toilet paper dispenser and a half-eaten bacon, tomato and lettuce sandwich slumped in her hand as she watched the rather morbid video on her phone.

Eight silhouettes flash onto the title card one at a time with the name of the villainous group listed along the top in both English and Kanji. This was soon wiped clean by the sound of a blade being drawn and blood dripping down the screen, transitioning from the title card to the first frame.

_"Do you enjoy getting your hands dirty? Do you want to destroy the very heroes who threw you aside? Then the League of Villains wants you!"_

Headshots of several well-known Pro Heroes flashed across the screen including All-Might, Eraserhead, Present Mic, Endeavour, Midnight and Hawk amongst others. Images from newspaper clippings, news & magazine articles and fuzzy video clips showing the heroes in a bad light flashed across the screen; too fast for you to figure out if they were real, but slow enough for you to understand what was going on.

The androgynous narrator continued on.

_"Throughout the decades, Heroes have advocated for children to join their ranks and dirty their hands without even acknowledging it. They're taught to hit hard, but not to care about the consequences"_

Here, images of young heroes were shown in conjunction with bruised and broken civilians. Homes and buildings that were destroyed beyond repair, fires that stroked the sky and painted the heavens red behind the grinning heroes. Bloodied bodies were shown strewn across streets and the cries of tearful parents who were reunited with their children only to bury them in the ground.

_"These hypocrites preach the very laws that they break in their daily life, holding themselves above the law like God-given angels"_

Various clips of the recent fight against the Nomus in the streets of Hosu coupled with the League of Villains attack on the USJ facility, crowded the screen almost in an attempt to overwhelm the viewer in the numerous examples of these so-called atrocities. With a transitional wipe, the screen faded to black and was replaced with a single sentence of white lettering in both Kanji and English.

_"Join the League of Villains today, and help to bring end to these hypocrites!"_

Falling back against the toilet with a sigh, Toru mindlessly fiddled with her earphones as she flicked through similarly recommended videos that had popped up on the side of the dark site. She couldn't help it, the first video she had watched had been taken down multiple times, but it just seemed to keep popping back up along with other similar videos. It was like falling down the rabbit hole.

Toru knew she shouldn't be watching them, but she just couldn't help herself. Hidden deep in the dark web were people of likeminded value. _And, _she reasoned, _I'm only watching these vids, it's not like I'm actually doing anything…_

* * *

The following days were filled with stress-inducing exams from the finicky laws of informatics to the menial repetition of English grammar; speckled with sweaty hours of dancing in sky-high heels. Until finally class 1-A was gathered in front of a selection of the teaching staff in preparation for their final exam.

"Now then—" Aizawa slouched (without his obnoxiously yellow sleeping bag, for once), "—Let's begin the last test. Remember, it's possible to fail this exam. If you wanna go to camp, then don't make any stupid mistakes"  
"Uh, why are all the teachers here?" Jiro questioned.

"I expect many of you have gathered information and believe you have some idea of what you'll be faced with today" Aizawa steamrolled on.

"We're fighting those big ole metal robots!" Kaminari cheered.

"Fireworks! S'mores! Here we come!" Mina added.

"Actually—" Nezu popped out of Aizawa bandage-scarf like a rabbit from a magician's hat, "—this year's test will be completely different for various reasons"

"Principal Nezu?!" Chorused Jiro, Sero and Ojiro whilst many others began to become rather nervous at what the headmaster was implying.

"You're changing things?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"The tests now have a new focus" Nezu replied as he slid down onto the floor, "There will be Hero work, of course, but also teamwork and combat between actual people"

"Wait! You mean…" Toru trailed off as her eyes widened in alarm.

"That's right!" Nezu chirped, "You students will be working together in pairs and your opponents will be one of our esteemed UA teachers! Isn't that fabulous?"

"We're…fighting…the teachers?" Ochako reiterated.

"Additionally your partners and your opponents have already been chosen" Aizawa picked up the explanation, "They were determined at my discretion based on various factors including fighting styles, grades and interpersonal relationships—"

_What?! _Toru panicked. Admittedly she hadn't really trained as much for the physical exam as she should have, instead focusing on her written exams, where she hoped to place higher than her original sixteenth place.

"—First Yaoyorozu and Todoroki are a team…against me. Then we have Midoriya paired with Bakugou and their opponent is…"

"I AM HERE!" All Might declared landing in front of the two startled teens, "TO FIGHT! You're going have to work together boys…if you _want _to win!"

"Next is Kirishima and Sato against Cementoss, then Asui and Tokoyami against Ectoplasm. Ojiro & Iida versus Power Loader, Uraraka & Aoyama against Thirteen and Kaminari & Ashido against Nezu. Jiro & Koda are fighting Present Mic, then Hagakure & Shoji are fighting Snipe and finally Mineta & Sero are up against Midnight"

"To complete the exam you'll have thirty minutes in order to win your objective is to put these handcuffs on your teacher—" Nezu held up a pair of hexagonal handcuffs, "—Or you can win if one of you manages to escape from the combat stage"

"So we've either got to capture the teacher or run away. It's basically like the combat training" Kaminari summarised.

"Yeah, but is it really okay to just jet?" Mina questioned.

"Yep" Nezu replied

"It's gonna be much different than that combat training you went through earlier" Present Mic tacked on, "After all, you're up against people waaaay better than you!"  
"Better? Really? Wait! Aren't you just the announcer?" Jiro questioned.  
"HEEEEEEY! GIRL! WATCH YO MOUTH! HAVE SOME RESPECT!"  
"This time your exam will be very similar to a real battle" Thirteen explained, "As strange as it is, please think of us as villains"

"Assuming you come across your enemy, if you think you can win against them, then fight. However—" Snipe continued.

"—In instances where you're outmatched, it would be smarter to run away and find help. Todoroki, Iida, Midoriya, Hagakure; I'm _sure _the four of you understand" Aizawa continued. Toru went pink at being called out so flippantly.

"So we fight to win, or run to win" Midoriya summed up.

"That's right! It's a test of your decision-making skills! But with these rules, your probably only real choice is to flee! That's why the Support course made these super cool accessories for us!" All Might replied, pulling out said item from behind him.

"BEHOLD! ULTRA-COMPRESSED WEIGHTS!" Said Present Mic, showing the item to the students.

"These babies will add half our body weight to our current physiques" All Might continued to explain whilst the other teachers placed the metal cuffs around their ankles and wrists. "It's not much—" _Yeah right! _Toru snorted at the number of cuffs that All Might had put on himself. "—But they will eat up our stamina and make it hard for us to move around!"

Toru felt a ping of worry when she watched All Might's wrist bound in metal cuffs suddenly drop into his lap like a sack of potatoes falling to the floor. "Oh shoot! These are heavier than I thought!" All Might muttered before turning back to the students before him, "We had a contest to come up with these designs and young Hatsume ended up winning it!"

"Wow! Good for Hatsume!" Midoriya gasped, eyes going wide at whatever thought was rolling around in his brain.

"You think we need a handicap to beat you? Well, think again." Bakugo predictably demanded of the number one hero.

"Ha ha! This'll be fun!" All Might grinned; the typical expression seemed darker than it usually was.

"Let's begin, we have a stage prepared for each of you" Aizawa cut in before the trio could delve into further conversations that would likely drag on forever. "Sato, Kirishima, you're up"

"Yessir!" The two boys chorused.

"Those waiting to fight can either watch the exams or strategise together as a team. It's your choice. That'll be all" Aizawa followed the teachers into the building behind them, where their exams would be taking place.

* * *

Toru was washing her hands in the bathroom when the announcement came over the loudspeakers. _"SATO AND KIRISHIMA HAVE BEEN KNOCKED OUT. EXAM OVER"_

"Seriously?!" Toru gasped at her reflection in the mirror, "Shit! They're really not pulling any punches with this, are they? Well, we better give 'em a reason to, eh?" This time, her reflection grinned back at her, strong and confident in the wake of the first exam.

* * *

After cooking up a series of half-baked plans and strategies with Shoji, Toru found herself standing in the monitor room where she could watch her classmates take their own exams. Shoji had preferred to stay in the waiting room with some of the other students.

_Holy shit! They really aren't holding back! _Toru watched bug-eyed as Thirteen, Ectoplasm and Nezu when all out against their assigned students, pushing them passed their limits, both mentally and physically. Currently the headmaster was manically laughing as he directed large pieces of scrap metal to rain down upon Mina and Kaminari, who ran around their arena like rats in a maze. _Which is probably why he's enjoying it so much._

Soon enough, Toru found herself alongside Shoji as they hid behind the tall cement structures of their arena. Snipe had situated himself at the other end of the room nearby to the gate and was currently penning them in with constant, and well-aimed gunfire. He seemed to be aiming to rundown the clock; keeping the pair from passing by not letting them move.

"Shoji! At this rate we'll be trapped here forever!" Toru worried as Shoji peered around the corner with one of his extended arms.

"Don't worry, he's only one man" Shoji reassured her, "Still escaping this will be a herculean task. The only advantage is that our opponent's movements are slowed by those weights"

"Now" Snipe's voice echoed around the cavernous room as he tossed a canister out onto the floor, "Let's see whose better at hide and seek?"

"Smoke bomb" Shoji registered as voluminous smoke began to fill the area, "He's trying to blind us! But at least it's going to affect his vision at the same time"

"Shoji!" Toru suddenly perked up as an idea came to mind, "Can I have your belt? I have an idea"

The gunfire grew closer as Snipe crept closer, using the smoke to hide. Shoji swiftly handed Toru his blue belt in exchange for the handcuffs, just in time for the rapid gunfire to knock through the structure the pair had been hiding behind. Shoji went one way, and Toru went the other.

After pulling her goggles down over her eyes, Toru quietly drifted through the smoke until she was standing behind their opponent, owing to her stealth boots and cautious footsteps. She wasn't sure how she was going get any closer without alerting Snipe; thankfully however, Shoji had seemed to have cottoned on to what she was planning to do.

Whilst Toru waited in the smoky shadows behind their gunslinging sensei with belt clutched tight in hand, Shoji charged out into the smoke, straight into Snipe's line of sight, distracting him. "Don't be rash, kid" Snipe scolded, firing the bullets down at Shoji's feet making the tall teen stop in place with all of his hands raised in the air. "Aren't you giving up a little too easy for a hero?" Snipe walked forth with gun in hand as he held his student at gunpoint.

Taking that as her cue, Toru wasted no time in vaulting out of the shadows and up onto their gunslinging sensei. "Ack! What the hell?!" Snipe demanded. With legs coiled around his upper body, Toru wrapped Shoji's belt around his throat and pulled tight, choking him. She refused to let him go even when he tried to shake her off.

"SHOJI!" Toru called out as she was banged up against one of the concrete structures. The shock of the hit, knocked the breath from her lungs and in her surprise, she dropped Shoji's belt to the floor. Thankfully, however, her legs remained locked around Snipe's chest, and mindless of the grabby hands trying to remove her from his person, Toru heaved herself upright once more and slapped her sensei into a tight chokehold. "SH-SHOJI!"

And then Shoji was there, cuffs in hand as he tried to find an opening that allowed him to stick the metal cuffs onto Snipe, who continued to thrash and spin like a bucking bronco ride. Eventually, Shoji was able to slap one of the cuffs onto his wayward wrist, ending the exam with seconds to spare.

_"TEAM HAGAKURE AND SHOJI HAVE PASSED THE EXAM"_ Announced the interface over the loudspeaker. Slipping from Snipe's back, Toru moved to join Shoji at his side where she blinked back into view. Meanwhile, Snipe used the reprieve to suck in lungfuls of air that Toru had deprived him of.

"Why…choking?" Snipe gasped.

"The human body can only survive so long with oxygen to the brain" Toru replied factually, "It only takes five-ten seconds for unconsciousness to occur and sixty seconds for death to follow. It seemed the most logical option…aside from breaking bones" Both Shoji and Snipe looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "What?"


	30. Rule #39a

** _Rule #39a: There is no such thing as a small world_ **

The following day after the exams, a rather large glumness had settled over a couple of the students in 1-A. Those who had failed the exam were huddled in one corner of the classroom, where the wept, wailed and whined about missing out of the training camp planned for over the summer.

"E-E-Everyone…! We're looking forward to h-h-hearing all your stories…how fun c-c-camp was…!" Mina wailed.

"Hey now," Midoriya tried to cheer up the girl, "Maybe they'll end up letting you go. There might be a last minute twist or something"

"Stop it, Midoriya" Sero cut in, hand on his shoulder, "By saying that aloud, you're just jinxing them"

"They said whoever failed the exam would have to skip training camp and live in summer school hell. We didn't pass the practicals, so we're doomed! _Don't you get it, MIdoriya?! Or did All Might knock all the brains outta you?!" _Kaminari turned on the green-haired boy.

"Ease up, Kaminari" Sero interjected when the electric blonde stabbed Midoriya in the eye with his fingers, "I'm not sure I'll get to go either; our team only passed thanks to Mineta. I got knocked out, and since we don't know how they're scoring us. I might've flunked"

"AT LEAST BRING US BACK LOTS OF CAMP SOUVENIRS PLEASE!" Kaminari cried.

Just then, the door to the classroom burst open, slamming against the wall as it swung inwards to reveal Aizawa, much more awake than he typically was. His sleeping bag wasn't even anywhere in sight. "Once the bell rings you should be in your seats" he stated bluntly, making everyone scramble for their seats in panicked silence.

"Morning" Aizawa greeted, coming to stand at the from of the class, "Unfortunately there are a few of you who did not pass your final exams, so when it comes to the training camp in the woods…_everyone is going!"_

"We _really _get to go to camp?" Kirishima asked, hopeful.

"Seriously?" Mina squealed with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, the good news is no one bombed the written exam; five failed the practical. Badly. Two teams of course, and then Sero failed as well—" Aizawa continued.

"Aw crap! I knew it! Mineta made it to the gate, but I didn't do near enough to pass!" Sero whined.

"—Allow me to explain. For the practical battles, the teachers made sure to leave a way for the students to win, otherwise you never would've stood a chance. We were interested in observing how you each worked together and approached the task at hand"

"But didn't you promise that the teachers wouldn't be holding back?" Ojiro questioned.

"That was just to get you on edge" Aizawa calmly replied, "Besides, the training camp will focus on building your strengths. Those who failed need those lessons the most, we were never going to separate you…" He grinned mischievously, "That was just a logical deception we used!"

_"Aizawa-Sensei!" _Iida jumped to his feet with hand raised in the air, and shaking slightly in frustration as he demanded, "That's the second time you've lied to us! Aren't you afraid we'll lose faith in you?!"

"Uh…a little blunt there, Tenya" Ochako commented.

"That's a good point" Aizawa agreed, "I'll consider it. But I wasn't lying to you about everything. Failure _is _failure; we've prepared extra remedial lessons for the five of _you. _Frankly, they'll be far tougher than what you'd face at summer school"

* * *

"This is gonna be great!" Ojiro grinned, looking over the little blue programme they had each been given, "I'm so glad we're all going together!"

"We're camping on a mountain?! YES!" Toru cheered looking over the programme.

"Have you been camping before, Hagakure?" Midoriya asked the excited girl.

"Kinda. My old school used to up a mountain, so we did a lot of survival exercises and the like. I'm so excited! It's been so long since I've been hiking or camping or outdoors!"

"But we were outside yesterday?"

"No! Like proper outdoors! With bugs and campfires and bushes and trees! Eeee! I can't wait!"

"It looks like we'll be at the training camp for a full week" Declared Iida, reading over his.

"I gotta find a bigger suitcase!" Midoriya commented, looking over Iida's shoulder.

"Yeah, I don't even have a bathing suit" Agreed Kaminari, "Guess I need to buy some stuff"

"Hey guys!" Mina perked up, "Since we're off tomorrow and we've finished exams, I have the best idea! Why doesn't class 1-A go shopping together!"

"Hey! Yeah! We've never hung out as a class before!"

"Bakugo! See you there, right?" Kirishima turned to the angsty blonde as he left the classroom.

"Can't think of anything more annoying" Bakugou called over his shoulder, before walking out the door. _I can. _Toru thought, watching his blonde mop disappear.

"Will you come too, Todoroki?" Midoriya asked.

"I visit my mum on days off" Todoroki replied, apologetically.

And so it was that the following day, that a collection of 1-A students were gathered at the mall with shopping lists in hand and bulging wallets in their pockets. Dressed in a sunshine yellow smiley that was tucked into a comfy yellow-striped black pleated skirt with bright pink jandals on her feet and matching sunglasses on her head, Toru met up with her classmates where they stood gathered off to the side of one of the food courts. It was a little odd seeing her classmates outside of school; sure, she knew that they wouldn't be wearing their uniforms (hero or otherwise), but it was like seeing a teacher outside of school—just weird.

"Oh man! Do I love this place! It's got everything! With a ton of different stores to shop in, and they're all super cool and hip!" Mina sparkled, eyes wide as she spun around to get a view of everything around her. Toru, herself, readjusted the strap of her bag for the umpteenth time since arriving at the mall. The last time she had been there was before school and started, and she had hid in the bathrooms because she couldn't take all of the jeering and pointing. Back when people stared at her floating clothes like they could collapse at any second. Next to her, Midoriya began to mutter rapidly under his breath as he turned this way and that. It seemed that his analysis skills weren't just limited to heroes. "You're going to scare the children" Tokoyami blandly stated, making Toru smile at the two.

"Whoa! Aren't those UA students?" Someone from the crowd called out, drawing attention to the group.

"1-A!" Cried another.

"I saw 'em on TV! The Sports Festival was _so good!" _Cheered a third. Toru blanched, her body tense at all the sudden attention they were receiving from thousands of eyes now focused on them.

"Uh, ha ha" Ochako chuckled nervously, "I can't believe they still remember that"

"I wanna track down a new duffle bag to bring to summer training" Jiro commented.

"Oh yeah? Maybe the two of us can browse together?" Yaoyorozu suggested.

"Let's see…" Mineta was glancing around at the stores, though no one paid him any mind "Where can I get a lock-picking kit and a small drill?"

"I should probably get some outdoorsy shoes for this thing" Kaminari added.

"Oh yeah! That's a smart idea! I should get some more sports bras while I'm here…" Toru agreed.

"Ooh! Can I—?" Mineta leered.

"—No!" Toru shot him down before he could even finish the question. Grouping together, 1-A agreed to split up to find what everyone needed and then meet back here later so that they could all grab lunch together.

* * *

Circling back from the food court with bubble tea and purchases in hand, Toru slowly made her way over to the meeting point, knowing she was likely to be done earlier than the rest of them. Most of the things that she would need for the training camp she already had from junior high, and those that she didn't she could just as easily borrow or substitute with something else. Really, the only things she had needed to grab today were a couple of sports bras, a couple of thermals and a set of camping cutlery.

_I wonder how everyone else's shopping is going? _She mused, sipping at her citrus-flavoured drink as she walked. It was rather different walking around the mall after the Sports Festival. This time, being called out by the public was because they saw her at the festival; watched her fight instead of the scar running down the centre of her chest. _The Sports Festival seems like it was so long ago…so much has happened since, with Stain and internships…and now camp. _Toru mused as she hummed along to the tune playing through her earphones.

With the _Children of the Whales _soundtrack playing in her ears, Toru happened across a very peculiar scene. Despite her beliefs, she wasn't actually the first to return to their meeting point, in fact that particular spot went to Midoriya who sat on the bench with someone she didn't recognise…_A friend? Family member? _Whatever the case, the two seemed to be sitting practically on top of each other and were whispering quietly to one another as if they didn't want to be overheard.

"Midoriya?" Toru interjected herself into the conversation as she came to a stop in front of the two, dropping her empty cup into a nearby bin as she did so. Midoriya's darkly-dressed friend kept his head bowed but she could see whispers of blue hair escaping from beneath his hood, "Are you done already?" She smiled, plaits swinging as she turned to her classmate, "Who's your friend?"

"Toru" Midoriya jolted, his wide eye swinging up to the smiling classmate in front of him. With pink hair ribbons falling over the shoulders of her brightly coloured t-shirt and pleated skirt swaying as she moved, she was the picture-perfect image of innocent school girl. Just another everyday teen, meeting their friend at the mall; although it _did _remind him of another (rather recent) incident where her appearance had been a complete contrast to her actions.

"Midoriya? Are you all right? You look a little pale…" Toru worried as Midoriya seemed to tense under his friend's arm.

"He's fine—" Rasped Midoriya's blue-haired friend, his head barely raised to meet her eyes. Though it was his raspy voice that sent a chill through Toru. A _very _familiar voice matched with sky-blue hair. Although void of the various disembodied hands, it was surely him. "—Why don't you run along now, _little girl?"_

Eyes sharpened onto the man she now recognised as the villain from the USJ attack—Tomura—and instead of moving along as he had…suggested, she stayed in front of the two and straightened to her full height, becoming serious with only a fake smile still plastered on her face. Clearly they didn't want to cause a scene in the middle of the mall, the cards could fall either way and the outcome would be catastrophic no matter who came out on top.

"Didn't you hear me?" Tomura sneered, "Go away"

"I did, but I won't" Toru smiled pleasantly, as if she were teasing a sibling. Off to the side, Midoriya tensed further under Tomura's grasp. "At least—" She stepped closer to the pair and snatched up Midoriya's free arm, pulling him close and out of the villain's grasp, "—Not without him"

"You're pushing your luck, _girl" _Tomura rose to his feet as the two students seemed to dance out of his way. With Midoriya (who despite the situation seemed to be blushing scarlet) pressed up against Toru as if hugging her, she spun the pair around as she reached out to grab the outreaching arm of the villain. Pulling Tomura into the dance, Toru spun Midoriya away with her free hand, whilst her other was clasped around the wrist of the blue-haired villain. A few bystanders looked over at the movement, but merely dismissed it as teenagers playing around.

"T-Toru!" Midoriya stammered as he watched his classmate pull the taller villain in close. Tomura was so close to Toru that he could hear the sounds of Ririko playing through her pink and white earphones. Despite her situation and close proximity to the villain, Toru smiled up at the man as if nothing was wrong. It only seemed to frustrate him further. His wrinkled face now free of its usual disembodied hand appeared dry and cracked like an old orange.

"Is something the matter, _Ten~ko?" _Toru grinned, her lips turning a little devilish as she sang the villain's name—his _real _name.

"How?" Tomura growled, neither denying nor accepting the accusation.

"History is _fascinating, _don't ya think?" Toru smirked low enough that Midoriya couldn't pick up what she was saying, even though she was well-aware that if the villain wanted to he could kill her right there and then. He had clearly shown the intent to do so to others in the past and she wouldn't put it pass him now. Of course, that doesn't mean she wouldn't go down without a fight. "All those little stories that people just seem to brush away. Like the Shimura murders; they're pretty interesting, don'tcha think? And they didn't even catch the guy"

"If you want to talk interesting little stories—" Tomura's expression turned from dark and twisted into something manic as he grinned, "—what about those ones swarming around Class 3-E of Kunugigaoka Junior High?"

"Are you saying you believe those things?"

"Shiro says hello"

With no way for the outside world to see her physical figure (without a UV light), body language became a big part of her vocabulary, and at this certain point in time it spoke volumes. Toru's smile didn't quite fall, but it did twitch at the corners making it harder to hold in place. Her body tensed against Tomura's handless one and her heart began to beat wildly against her ribcage. "

"Is something the matter, _To~ru?" _Tomura grinned wickedly. She didn't reply, her thoughts still stuck on what the villain had implied, but all around them store lights began to dangerously flicker.

"You shouldn't talk about things you don't understand" Toru eventually replied, her tone much colder than it had been previous.

"Oh? And what do you plan to do about it?

"It's quite simple really" Toru slid one of her feet in between Tomura's legs, evidently pressing the two closer until she was practically buried in his chest. And then in one quick and favourable move, she jerked her knee up and hit him in the crotch. Hard. _"PERVERT!"_ Toru screeched as she jumped away from the villain, allowing him to collapse into a groaning pile on the floor.

Several heads turned at the call, even a couple of people emerged from the stores around them as hands pulled Toru away from the villain on the floor. Fake tears streamed down her face as she turned to bury her head in Ochako who had arrived just in time to watch the villain fall; at their side Midoriya seemed to be muttering a mile a minute as he fussed over the stupidly brave girl.

"Is that…Shigaraki?" Ochako puzzled. She received no reply from either calssmate, but golden eyes watched from over Ochako's shoulder as Tomura—pale and shaking—heaved himself up onto his feet and scrambled through the growing crowd, before eventually melting into the sea of people. He was long lost before security arrived.

Ochako reported the incident and the shopping mall was temporarily closed, cutting 1-A's shopping excursion short. The heroes and police in the area conducted a massive sweep, but Shigaraki was nowhere to be found. Later that day both Midoriya and Toru were taken to the police station. Detective Tsukauchi, who was investigating the League of Villains, ran the interrogation.

"Well, this is familiar" Toru muttered as the two were escorted into separate conference rooms. Tsukauchi had interviewed Midoriya first, since he was the one Tomura had made contact with. Toru was next. The room was bland, spare save for the single desk in the center of the room and only a single one-way window inserted into the back wall. "Hello, again" She greeted as Tsukauchi came and dropped a file on the table between them.

"Hello" Tsukauchi nodded, getting out a pen to take notes with "Didn't think I'd see you again. Or so soon"

"Yeah, this wasn't what I had planned for today" She agreed amicably, looking around the bare room.

"Right, what can you tell me about your interaction with Shigaraki Tomura? Why were you at the mall? Who was with you? Things like that" He questioned, pen poised at the ready.

"Uh, I was at the mall with some friends from 1-A, we were going to get some things for the training camp that's coming up. Um…I'd gotten my things and grabbed a bubble tea on the way back—we'd said we'd meet up at that point so we could all go for lunch. Uh…I thought I'd be the first done, 'cause I've got a lot of camping stuff already, but Midoriya was already there with Shigaraki…" She paused and sent a glance towards the detective who gestured for her to continue, "Uh, the two were talking—I didn't recognise who Shigaraki was at first, I thought he was a friend of Midoriya's or something—anyway, uh, I asked who his friend was and if he was done with his shopping already. Shigaraki tried to get me to go away—"

"—He spoke to you?"

"Yeah, just short sentences, not much really"

"Such as?"

"Uh, _'Go away'_ _'Get lost'_ those kind of things, y'know. Anyway, when I recognised the voice, I told him I wasn't going anywhere and pulled Midoriya out of his grasp"

"How did you recognise him on just his voice alone? Had you heard him speak before?"

"Uh, a couple of times at the USJ incident, but other than that…"

"That doesn't answer my question"

"Rule #53"

"What?"

"Rule #53, y'know those rules they teach heroes?"

"What rules?"

_"Oh! I knew Koro-Sensei was making them up!" _Toru muttered under her breath before turning back to the detective, "Rule #53 is:_ 'Knowledge is power…Wield it like a blade, secure it like a treasure…it is your most sacred weapon' "_

"…How many of these rules are there?" Tsukauchi sat back in his seat as he studied the invisible girl in front of him.

"Uh…there's a fair few…"

"Alright, but what's this gotta do with it?"

_"Look,_ the guy's apparently some figurehead for the League of Villains and clearly he's got some kind of fixation on All-Might-sensei, which in turn means he'll likely try to strike UA and its students again and again until he gets what he wants. As such, I found it pertinent to learn about him and his Quirk; so I knew what we'd likely face in the future" She leant back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"And what _did _you find?"

"Not much, you look for him and you mostly get propaganda videos about the League of Villains—recruitment drives and whatnot—nothing substantial"

"Hm. Back to this, did you touch Shigaraki?"

"No, at least not until he made a grab for Midoriya"

"Where did you touch him?"

"His wrist"

"Anything else?"

"He started talking about history, of all things" _Stop talking! _"And mentioned that he knew an old…teacher of mine and that was it"

"What teacher?"

"Well, he was more like a friend of a teacher or a teacher of a teacher—I _had _thought he was dead, so y'know…"

"That was it?"

"Yep—I mean, I kneed him in the crotch and called him a pervert, but other than that…"

* * *

Soon enough, the interrogation had ended and Tsukauchi let Toru go, letting her meet up with Midoriya, his mother and All-Might who were waiting outside the precinct. "Young Midoriya! Young Hagakure! Tsukauchi!" All-Might greeted, his shrimpy form rushed to meet them at the door.

"All-Might-Sensei?" Toru quietly murmured, head tilted in puzzlement as she watched Midoriya's tearful mother embrace her son. All Might stood off to the side, but looked as if he was waiting to be hit or at least reprimanded by the short woman. Grasping tight to the straps of her bag, Toru followed after the detective and joined the trio outside. "Hello" She greeted, coming to a stop behind the woman.

"Oh! Hello, uh-uh, this-this is—" Midoriya's mother stammered, looking panicked as her tearful gaze shot between the blonde and the invisible girl.

"—It's alright, Mum" Midoriya interrupted still clinging to his mother, "She already knows"

"I figured it out" Toru supplied with a shrug, "Wasn't that hard—I think it's the fringe…makes you look like an ant or one of those car dealership balloon thingies" Midoriya's mother smiled while All Might tugged at his fringe in contemplation; looking a little put out as he did so.

"Sansa," Tsukauchi turned to the feline detective who had directed Midoriya's mother over, "Make sure they get home safe"

"Sir!" Sansa saluted and motioned for the trio to follow him over to one of the police cars parked in front of the precinct.

"Ah, it's all right, I'm not far" Toru politely refused, wanting to get home as soon as possible so she could ready for the last day of semester tomorrow. "I'll just walk"

"At this time of night?" Midoriya's mother cut in before any of the others could say otherwise, "No way"

"Um…" Toru stared at the small woman in front her full of maternal instincts and unable to find a way to refuse without sounding rude.

"Get in the car" She all but ordered, dark eyes somehow pinpointing Toru's golden ones even when she couldn't see them.

"Yes ma'am" Toru squeaked as she slid into the passenger seat while both mother and son took the back seat. _Midoriyas are scary!_

Toru spent most of the short drive watching the world go by. The radio crackled throughout the car, filling the space with meaningless noise instead of the awkward silence that floated between the quartet. "Just up here" She directed the detective, when the edge of the retirement village came into view.

"Are you sure" Sansa inquired as they pulled up outside the large iron-wrought gate, "This is a retirement village"

"Uh, yeah, it's just me and my grandfather—it's pretty good, all things considered" Toru replied.

"Was there a reason he couldn't come get you, tonight?"

"I think he had a poker game tonight…At least I think it was poker, could've been Bridge. I dunno, some kind of card game tournament" She dismissed as she unbuckled her seatbelt, "Thanks" She said to Sansa, "See ya tomorrow, Midoriya" She waved, collecting her things and hopping out of the car. The police car waited out on the street until she slid through the side gate and disappeared up the path to the main building of the retirement suburb.

Traipsing along the gilded path towards her grandfather's allocated building amongst the terracotta brick-a-brack houses, Toru reminisced on the home she now lived in. Unlike her grandparents previous home, this one was well-kept by the in-house staff and provided secured safety that you couldn't even _dream _of in the other one.

That's to say, that the other apartment wasn't left in the dust, technically speaking, it was still in her grandparents' name; but with what had happened there she didn't blame her grandfather for wanting to move. Plus the current agreement with the retirement home meant that until the lease on their previous apartment was up, the two could live in the village rent-free, after that they would have to pay the fee.

Toru was just thankful that the owners of the village were understanding. There was also the added benefit of all the elderly who enjoyed spending time with the younger generation, filling their lonely days with a younger company, most reminiscing on days long lost. However, the days ticked down until all the remaining items had to be collected from the old apartment or they were resold to make way for the new occupants. _Gotta get on that._

_From the entrance exams to the fitness test. _Toru mused as she jimmied her key in the lock,_ Combat training, the League of Villains attack, the Sports Festival, our internships & the Host incident and finally our exams. A lot has happened, but my first semester at UA is over now and summer is about to begin._

Waving a greeting to the table of elderly men who sat hunched over their playing cards with various medical equipment, empty potato chip bags and cans of beer strewn about them, many of whom replied with enthusiastic grunts, head jerks and eyebrows raised as she diverted to the fridge for a snack and then onto her bedroom (the spare room).

_Though that doesn't mean we can just ignore our training, all of us need to be prepared for the evil lurking around the corner because that's how we'll become true heroes. We don't have time to stand around; we have to keep running towards our goals._


	31. Rule #35

** _Rule #35: Always watch the watchers_ **

America, the so-called birthplace of heroism, was—in a word—busy. Even from the air, Toru could see rows upon rows of brightly-coloured buildings smushed together like sardines in a can. Large stretches of glimmering ocean gave way to towering cities and greening pastures, but the apple of the American eye was a man-made island off the coast of California. The floating city could move _anywhere _and was home to over ten _thousand _scientists. I-Island; so aptly named because of all the technological advancements that engulfed the city. Hell! The city itself was a technological achievement!

Across from Toru, Kayano sat draped across her seat with both legs just barely reaching the end of the lazy-boy with her little yappy dog, Toto, asleep in the one next to her. Green hair gave way to chocolate brown locks, like someone had dip-dyed her in paint and chainsaw snores escaped from the actress as she slept, the pages of her cheesy gossip magazine fluttering up and down as she breathed.

Looking around Kayano's private plane you saw luxury everywhere you looked—it was a_ private _plane for crying out loud! From the leather-bound chaise lounge to the gleaming wooden accents, to the bar at the end of the plane and the bidet toilet in the bathroom. Even the sodas came with little umbrellas in them!

Toru had been lucky that Kayano had offered her an invitation to come with her over summer. The young heroine had heard about the event that the island was hosting through Midoriya, who had gushed about how All-Might was taking him over the holidays; going on and on and _on _about all the technological advancements that the city had done. He was practically drooling and starry-eyed by the end of it. A part of her had been a little jealous of the brainiac when he had brought it up—who _hadn't _heard of I-Island? It was practically All-Might famous; people worldwide knowing what the place was even without even visiting there. It had certainly made a name for itself over the years, and would probably continue to do so.

This was the case until Kayano had offered her invitation to the invisible girl. Apparently Kayano was supposed to do a research tour on the island in order to ready herself for a role in an upcoming movie, and since it involved some kind of hero-related story, her agent had suggested I-Island, the hub for all budding heroes. Originally the actress _had_ wanted to bring Nagisa on the excursion, but the blue-haired boy had already signed himself up to be a councillor at some summer camp that he was looking forward to. Toru was lucky to be her second choice. _Well, it'll be nice change for once._ Toru mused as she was pulled from her thoughts by the plane coming to land on the runway.

_"WE WILL NOW BEGIN THE IMMIGRATION PROCESS"_ Dinged the intercom as Toru (now dressed in her hero uniform as per regulations) and Kayano (dressed smartly in her first outfit) were slid along the convey-a-belt like food at the grocery store as the scans were completed, and their passports popped up on the screens beside them.

"Ooh! It says here the island was created so the world's greatest minds could gather together to create new hero support items and research Quirks!" Kayano chirped as she read off the information booklet she had picked up from the travel agent. "Did ya know that?" She turned to Toru.

"Kinda" Toru shrugged her shoulders, "It's s'posed to be movable 'cause of possible villain attacks, right?"

"That's what it says. Plus the s'posedly impenetrable security systems they've got in place—_Ooh! _I'd _love _to test some of them!" Kayano shared a wicked grin with Toru.

"Wouldn't that be fun?" Toru replied.

_"THE IMMIGRATION INSPECTION IS COMPLETE" _Droned the intercom, _"THE ISLAND IS CURRENTLY HOLDING THE PRE-OPENING OF I-EXPO, AN EVENT THAT SHOWCASES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS OUR TEAMS HAVE BEEN WORKING ON. ONLY THOSE WITH INVITATIONS MAY ATTEND THE PREVIEW"_

"Oh_ wow!_ Check out that view!" Toru ran to the balcony and looked out at the sea of colour. Fun-size buildings erupted from the earth like rides at an amusement park; from the topsy-turvy bridge to the cone-shaped buildings that reminded her of ice-cream cones and everything in between. It almost looked like a toddler had gone crazy with the crayons; imagination ran wild here and there was no hiding it.

"No way! The pictures of this place don't do it any justice!" Kayano agreed, joining her at her side.

"Unlike other countries on the mainland, people are allowed to use their Quirks freely here" Explained the tour guide who had met them at the immigration gate, "The pavilions are full of attractions and demonstrations; you should make some time for it later"

"Oh, we will!" Kayano agreed, practically climbing the balcony to see more of the city.

"Come along now, we'll take the back way to the hotel. This way, if you please" Instructed the tour guide, leading the two girls (plus Kayano's entourage) towards a back door that let out in an alleyway behind the airport. Even in a city such as this, celebrities were oft mobbed by their fans, well-meaning as they may be.

* * *

"Whoa! This place is _amazing!" _Kayano sang as she danced in a circle, trying to take everything in.

"It's so much different from the ground!" Toru agreed as she stared wide-eyed at colourful buildings and walks-of-life around them. Their tour guide had kindly gifted the pair with a map of the city as well as several recommendations for the two to explore. Kayano's entourage had originally come with them but the two girls had ditched them over by the pavilion leaving them to happily wander the grounds of the island without feeling oppressed by the bodyguards and agent. "Hey look! Is that Lady Liz, the reptilian heroine?" Kayano gushed, pointing to a green reptilian woman across the street signing autographs. "She's _so pretty!"_

"And badass too!" Toru grinned at the British heroine, "Do you think she'll be at the big party tonight?"

"Oh, I hope so!"

"Ooh! Let's go in here!"

"What is it?"

"I think it's a whole lot of support items" Toru replied gazing around the large cavernous room where different items were displayed; items you could only ever dream of.

"Hey! Check out this one! It says its a pair of boots that lets you walk on the roof like a bat!" Kayano excitedly read out the sign in front of the item. Like children in a candy store, the two girls zipped from item to item, excitedly looking over the technology on display until they reached the stalls where demonstrations were being held.

"Oh wow! Look at the craftsmanship on this!" Toru gushed, fingers carefully dancing over the scabbard on the table. "Kay! Look! _Look!"_ She showed it to her friend who was inspecting a pair of slender pistols off to the side.

"I _am _looking, Toru" Kayano smiled as the outline of her invisible friend was seen under the strips of UV lighting decorating the booth. "It's very pretty"

"And light too! And so delicately crafted! And—"

"—You haven't even looked at the blade yet!" Kayano laughed.

"Shut up!"

" 'ullo ladies" Greeted the stall owner, completely living the stereotype of scientist as he was dressed in stark-white lab coat and coke-bottle glasses, "Can I help you with something?"

"Oh, we were just admiring your craftsmanship" Kayano replied as Toru continued to drool over the sheathed blade in her hand. "What are these?"

"Hm? W-why, thank you" He flushed "Well, you miss, have the Twin Phasers—"

"—They only have four settings?" Kayano ran her finger over the dial on one pistol where the options (ON, STUN, KILL and OFF) were located.

"Well, yes, what other settings would you need?"

"Nevermind, just curious"

"Anyway—" The scientist shot Kayano an odd look as if he were trying to figure her out, before he turned to Toru "—You miss, have the Plasma Cutter"

"Plasma Cutter?" Toru reiterated.

"Yes, that's right, if you'd just take it out of the scabbard—"

With shaky fingers, Toru slowly slid the blade out of its scabbard, holding her breath in anticipation as she did so. Anticipation which soon fell flat when no metallic s_hing _sounded as the blade was unleashed. "There's no blade…" Toru's shoulders slumped in defeat as she looked inside the hollow hilt. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Now miss, if you'll just push the butt—" The scientist hurried to explain.

"Oh no, wait" Upon spotting the shard of crystal at the base of the hilt, she focused on the little laser pointer beneath it and manipulated the light to pierce through the shard; only jumping back in surprise when a light blade quickly erupted from the hilt. "Whoa!"

"How-how did you do that?"

"Um…?" Toru turned to the man in front of them, "Is that not what you're s'posed to do?"

"No, no, You push the button on the side to activate the blade" Taking the sword away from Toru, the light blade disappeared immediately turning dark once more in his hands as he inspected it "But you completely bypassed the circuits…How…? How is this possible? What's your Quirk?!"

"Uh…I'm heliokinetic?"

_"Really? _Hm…Would you…Would you care to test them out?"

_"Really?!" _Toru gasped excitedly, practically buzzing with excitement as she shared a glance with Kayano.

"Right this way, ladies"

The two were escorted over to a batting-cage set-up where the back wall was taken up with two circular rings of ball-shooting machines and a digital screen up above it displaying the different difficulty levels, like the ones used at sports centres. Kayano was gifted with a series of brightly coloured ammunition charges which she carefully lined up on the shelf next to her and Toru placed her sword's scabbard on the ground, leaning up against the wire cage behind her.

"Hey Toru!" Kayano called with a grin.

"Yeah?"

"How about we take the edge off, 3-E style?"

"You're on!" Toru grinned right back, "Loser buys lunch?"

"It's a date!"

"Hope you brought your cheque book, I'm feeling hungry!"

"Oh those are some big words for _a loser!_" Kayano replied, referring to their training back in Junior High. "Remember same rules as before!"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember! We rock infinity mode and the first one who loses their concentration buys lunch!" Toru called back loud enough for the machine to hear her choice in levels. "Sound good?"

"I can live with that"

_"YOU HAVE SELECTED INFINITY MODE. TRAINING WILL NOW BEGIN" _Chirped the machine before balls began to rapidly fire out of the wall at the two in random order. Both girls moved as if they were dancing, Toru swinging the Plasma Cutter like a ribbon or an extension of her body and Kayano twisted this way and that as she made sure that each laser bullet hit its mark.

"Holy crap! Those things are going so fast!" The scientist gasped, pressed up against the batting cage in awe. All around him a small crowd had begun to appear, drawn over by the sounds of laughter and rapidly firing balls. "And they're hitting every single one like its no big deal! These girls are machines!"

"What the _hell _do you think you're doing?!" Toru demanded as she caught sight of the people behind her, "You could get hit if you stand so close!"

"Actually Toru—" Kayano taunted as she switched out her ammo, "—_You _should be the one focusing!"

"Don't give me your lip, Kay!" Toru playfully snarked before her voice dropped until only Kayano could hear her. "Keep shooting. Behind the pillar on the south side of the convention centre, can you see him?"

"What's he doing here?" Kayano muttered after sparing a glance over the top of the crowd to where a man dressed in baggy clothing—looking like your typical street thug— stood, trying to hide himself.

"Is he one of yours?"

"No, I don't think so"

"You don't_ think _so?"

"Security here offered a couple of guys for my entourage, as like a welcome gift or something, but I haven't seen _him _before. You think we're being set up?"

"Wouldn't be the first time…" Toru sighed as they continued to fight off the balls "Kay, you should know, I've heard whispers that Shiro is back in town"

"Sh-shiro? That's not possible" Kayano stumbled a little, but was still able to hit the ball she had been aiming for.

"I thought so too, but there have been evidence of his experiments running around town recently"

"Those Nomus?"

"Yeah"

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I wanted to be sure"

"And now you are?"

"More like 70-80%"

"So there's still a chance it's someone else?"

"Unless Shiro's suddenly become very generous with sharing his experiments"

"Hm"

_"LEVEL CLEARED" _Chimed the machine, cutting through their conversation and drawing the two girls to a halt, panting slightly. _"IT'S A TIE!"_

"What? No! I clearly hit more balls that you!" Toru whined.

"Nah, you just sliced 'em in half!" Kayano fired back, gesturing to all the split balls littering Toru's cage.

"Oh? LIke yours is any better?" She waved to the balls sporting bullet holes in Kayano's cage.

"Ha ha"

"So…now what?"

"We split it?"

"Toru! That was_ amazing!" _Cheered the familiar voice of one of her classmates from 1-A who had been watching the event from the crowd behind them.

"Ochako?" Toru tilted her head in question as her gaze roved over her, Midoriya, Jiro, Yaoyorozu and an unknown blonde girl. All of her classmates were dressed in their hero costumes (as per the expo's regulations) "What are you doing here?"

"T-Toru!" Midoriya stammered, his wide eyes mirrored in those of her current classmates.

"What?" She turned to the green-haired boy, head tilted in question.

"We-we can see you!"

"Hm?" Toru glanced up to see that she was still standing beneath the decorative UV lighting from the stall. "Oh, it's 'cause of the UV"

"The UV?"

"See?" Stepping out of the light of the stall Toru seemingly disappeared from their eyes, "No UV" Stepping back into the light, the outline of her figure appeared, "UV—Now you see me, now you don't"

"Oh! I see!" Midoriya smacked his fist against his palm before he began to rapidly mutter about her Quirk and its possible applications.

"Same old Midoriya" Toru shook her head with a fond smile.


	32. Rule #35a

** _Rule #35a: Always expect the unexpected_ **

Toru brushed off invisible crumbs from her suit as she sat with her classmates (old & new) around the cafe table they had secured for lunch. With Kayano to her right and her UA classmates to the left, Toru felt like a bit of a buffer between the two. Although of course, this had been done in an order to deter her new friends from overwhelming Kayano—given her current stardom as a popular child actress.

Currently, the girls had gathered around one table whilst Midoriya sat off to the side. "Wow! You _really _got to work with Pro Heroes? Like out in the field?" Melissa—the unknown blonde—gushed.

"Just normal training and a few patrols" Ochako brushed off.

"I helped out with a hostage crisis, but only the evacuation part" Jiro added.

"That's still amazing!" Melissa replied in awe.

"Somehow I ended up in a TV commercial for hair products" Yaoyorozu sighed.

"Sounds like an experience! Lucky!"

"What about you, Toru?" Kayano piped up, "We never did hear about what happened at your internship"

"Uh, hehe…" Toru sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck as she remembered what happened to her, "Yeah…it was mostly training for me—a lot of setting stuff on fire, y'know…"

"Ooh! Did you bring s'mores?" Kayano wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Kay!" Toru teasingly shoved her friend, who laughed at their antics along with the others.

"Y'know, we were thinking about going to check out the pavilion where the Academy's exhibit is tomorrow" Jiro mentioned.

"I'm _really _excited!" Gushed Ochako, "Do you have something on display, Melissa?"

"Yeah, of course" Smiled the blonde.

"Is that…Mineta?" Ochako peered around Toru to look over at the two waiters who had been announced by Midoriya's call.

"What are you two doing here?" Jiro puzzled.

"They needed extra wait staff, and since it meant a free trip to the island, we applied to work, right?" Kaminari replied.

"We get to explore the expo on our breaks _and _we make some money" Mineta explained smugly, _"Plus _there's a chance we'll have _passionate _encounters with some of the cute—_ooh! God! I think I'm in love!" _He cut off having caught sight of both Melissa and Kayano.

"Are they always like this?" Kayano turned to the UA girls as Kaminari and Mineta hauled MIdoriya into a not-so-quiet perverted interrogation about the two girls.

"Yeah, pretty much" Toru sighed, sipping from her glass.

"Are they part of your Hero class too?" Melissa questioned innocently.

"That's right—!" Kaminari spun around and posed above Mineta.

"—We're basically Pros!" The two boys leered at the new girls.

"WHY ARE YOU TWO SLACKING OFF?!" Cried the resident speedster who suddenly zoomed in, "YOU WANTED TO MAKE MORE MONEY DIDN'T YOU?! BUT YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO WORK?!"

"Ooh! I know that voice!" Toru winced as Iida bounded into the scene

"Iida? You're here too?!" Ochako gasped.

"I come from a long line of heroes, it is to be expected that _we _received an invitation to the expo" Iida explained robotically. "But my family was busy, so it's just me"

"I wondered if you'd be here" Yaoyorozu spoke up, "I received an invitation because my father's a shareholder in one of the expo's sponsor companies. It's so fun to get to go to the preview!"

"Yeah! And she had a few extra tickets, so we basically gambled for them" Jiro explained. "So after an impartial game of chance, the two of us ending up joining the fun as her guests"

"Mmhm! The other girls are here too, they just can't visit the preview" Ochako ended.

"Oh! Are they really?" Midoriya asked.

"Uh huh, we're all planning to look around together once the expo opens up to the public tomorrow" Yaoyorozu explained.

"Here's a thought!" Melissa interjected, "Why don't I show you girls the sights?"

"Ah! Really?" The girls gasped.

"That'd be great!"

"You sure you have time?"

"Mmhm"

"We'd love to!"

"Please take us with you!" Mineta and Kaminari chorused pervertedly.

** _KA~BOOM!_ **

"What was that noise?" Midoriya spun around to face where the noise and shaking had come from. Following the large plume of smoke to its source, the group found themselves faced with a partially destroyed battle arena, similar to the training ones at school.

_"A CLEARANCE TIME OF 33 SECONDS!" _Decreed the shocked announcer, _"HE'S IN EIGHTH PLACE!"_

"Kirishima?" Toru murmured as the plume of smoke cleared to reveal the red-headed hard-head of class 1-A.

"So I'm guessing he's from UA as well?" Melissa asked.

"Uh huh, he's in our class too" Toru nodded.

_"PLEASE WELCOME OUR NEXT CHALLENGER!"_

"Ah…_Kaachan?!" _Midoriya exclaimed as the fiery blonde strode out onto the field.

_"THE VILLAIN ATTACK COURSE HAS BEEN RESET! READY…GO!" _Powered by a series of large explosives, Bakugou exploded into the air, launching himself up the cliff face in front of him. One by one, robots fell to his fiery blasts and the familiar "DIIIIIIIIE!" rang out.

"Die?" Kayano titled her head in question, "Is he one of ours?"

"No" Toru shook her head, "He's just got this weird thing about destroying his enemies"

"So he could be one of ours?"

"He's certainly got the attitude for it"

_"LOOK AT THAT TIME! ONLY 15 SECONDS! FIRST PLACE!"_

It didn't take long for the blonde to take notice of Midoriya hanging over the edge of the railing and unable to resist asserting his (supposed) dominance over the teen, launched himself up to the railing and began to holler in his face. "DAMMIT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE DEKU?!"

"Oh hey there, Kaachan!" Midoriya sheepishly replied as he slowly backed away.

"Is this normal for him?" Kayano asked.

"Yeah, pretty much" Toru sighed despondedly, "We're a class of weirdos"

"So, not much has changed then?"

"Ha ha!"

_"There's_ our stars!" Suddenly Kayano and Toru were yanked together as Nakamura Rio appeared out of the blue.

"Ack! Rio!" Toru cried, face slamming into Kayano's chest and receiving a mouthful of blonde hair as she hugged her two old classmates to her, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, _dearest cousin of mine _over there—" Rio nodded over to Bakugou who was still raging at Midoriya, "—was invited because he won UA's Sports Festival, and _mother dearest _was offered a modelling gig with one of the sponsors. I just tagged along"

"Oh that's right, your mother does advertisements, doesn't she?" Kayano nodded sagely, stepping out of the squishy hug.

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" Toru shook her head as she became fixated on the other half of the explanation, _"That's_ your cousin?"

"Uh huh" Rio nodded.

"The fiery cousin with his head up his ass?"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Bakugou bellowed making Midoriya pale as the fiery blonde caught the tail end of the girls' conversation.

"That's the one" Rio ignored her cousin.

Inevitably, Bakugou challenged Midoriya _again, _and the two battled it out on the villain course. Midoriya passed with a time of 16 seconds, however that was quickly outdone by Todoroki who had appeared and passed the course with a time of 14 seconds, much to Bakugou's chagrin.

* * *

_"THE I-EXPO PREVIEW WILL BE CLOSING AT 6PM" _Intoned the intercom, _"THANK YOU FOR COMING! ENJOY YOUR NIGHT!" _Dusk had fallen by the time the group of 1-A and 3-E students had returned to the cafe they had stopped at for lunch; the pathetic scene they found in front of the closed doors made Toru giggle. Both Kaminari and Mineta—neither of which were gung-ho about the expo anymore—were slumped in front of the cafe's doors with exhaustion written across their features.

"Hey Mineta! Kaminari!" Midoriya called to the two.

"Heh?" The boys chorused.

"How did your shift go?"

"You should be proud of the work you've done today" Iida added as he thrust two tickets into their tired faces.

"Mm…what-what are these?" Mineta queried.

"Invitations to the big expo reception later tonight" Yaoyorozu sang.

"T-there's a party?" Mineta stammered.

"Th-these are for us?" Kaminari tacked on in disbelief.

"Melissa took pity on you, for some reason" Jiro explained.

"She figured you could use a break!" Ochako smiled.

"I had a few extras" Ended Melissa, "Please! I'd love for you to have them!"

"Kaminari!~" Mineta warbled.

"Mineta~" Mirrored Kaminari, latching onto his small friend.

"A beautiful angel has rewarded us for all our hard work!" The pair cried into each other's arms. Toru just rolled her eyes at the display. _Drama Queens!_

"I heard there'll be quite a few Pro Heroes attending tonight's party—" Iida stated.

"Ugh! Not to mention all the big-time sponsors we'll have to schmooze!" Rio complained under her breath as she referred to her mother's career.

"—It's imperative we don't blemish UA's reputation" Iida continued, pretty much embodying his role of class president even outside of school, "We'll change into our formal clothes and go in as a group—"

"Won't your _entourage _be wanting to go in earlier?" Toru turned to Kayano.

"Yeah" She sighed, "But I've slipped them once, I can slip 'em again"

"—Everybody meet in lobby seven of the central tower at 6.30pm sharp!" Iida commanded, "Don't you _dare _be late! I'll contact Todoroki and Bakugou and share this information. Thank you, you're dismissed" And with that, he zoomed off into the sunset.

"You're right, Toru" Kayano coughed, waving away the smoke that the speedster left behind, "Your class is full of weirdos"

* * *

When 6.30pm rolled around, all three of the Kunugigaoka alumni girls were dressed in their formal wear and riding the elevator down to the allotted lobby. To her right stood Rio who had dressed herself in misalign off-the-shoulder cocktail dress in a navy blue that brought out her eyes, printed with decorative lotus' and matching heels.

To her left stood Kayano who had adorned herself in a simple lolita-styled ballgown. With tight emerald sleeves cut at the elbows and framed by a small ruffle; the only major detail on the dress was the corseted front which was lined in golden embroidery. With matching emerald knee-high heeled boots, she looked like she could kick some serious ass and look good doing it.

As for herself, Toru wore a kimono-styled cocktail dress with only one sleeve, and left one shoulder bare. The pebble-grey material was printed in streaks of silver, white and lined with ribbons of black that hugged her figure just right. The black ankle-booted heels that she wore matched the obi on her dress and the wrist-length lacy gloves she wore. Not one to usually wear darker colours, the dress was a nice change that looked good on her. All three girls had piled their hair high atop their heads, and decorated their ears in earrings that dangled close to their chins.

"You're late!" Iida reprimanded as the trio stepped off the elevator.

"A lady is never late—" Toru began, mockingly offended.

"—She arrives exactly—" Kayano smirked, continuing the phrase drilled into them by Bitch-Sensei.

"—When she is meant to" Rio finished with a chuckle. Iida appeared affronted but did not say more. Casting her gaze of the group of boys in front of her, Toru saw that they all (sans Bakugou and Kirishima) were gathered there. Both Mineta and Kaminari (having not planned to attending the party) remained in their waiter's getup with black vest and tie. Midoriya wore a burgundy pinstriped suit that seemed almost box-like on him; the custard-yellow dress shirt he wore beneath seemed almost white against the colour of the suit and matching bowtie.

Todoroki was dressed in a mostly white suit that was accented with navy lapels. The blue dress shirt and red tie he wore underneath complemented the boy well; but showed Toru that even when choosing clothes, the boy never went for a monochromatic colour scheme. Finally there was Iida who stood smartly dressed in a deep blue suit, with black vest and a mustard yellow tie. The simplicity of it practically screamed 'Iida!'

No sooner had the three girls emerged from the elevator to Mineta and Kaminari's crowed appraisals, did the other girls arrive, lead first by Ochako. The gravity girl wore strappy red heels and black tights under a off-the-shoulder pink dress, which was decorated in lines of ruffles and matching headband. "Sorry I'm late" She sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck, "It took me a while to get ready"

"BEST NIGHT EVER!" Cheered Kaminari and Mineta as another elevator pinged open to reveal Jiro hiding behind Yaoyorozu.

Yaoyorozu wore an elegantly mint-green gown that flowed around her figure and brushed against the floor as she walked. Her long black locks had been piled atop her head and secured with a bejewelled butterfly clip. Behind her, Jiro wore a very punk-themed dress. The pink and purple dress was hidden beneath her black leather jacket and was matched with red fingerless gloves and black tights. In turn, her own hair had been styled so that a pink floral hairlip pulled back the right-hand side of her fringe.

"Apologies for the tardiness" Yaoyorozu flushed, "Jiro's feeling shy"

"This is fancier than _anything _I've ever worn before" Jiro murmured anxiously, side-eyeing her classmate's elegant gown. "It feels like a costume"

"I'm just glad you're not in a t-shirt!" Kaminari flashed a thumbs up towards the girl.

"Even the jacket can't ruin it!" Mineta gasped. Both boys were predictably electrocuted by said girl for their perverted comments.

_"Shut up!" _Jiro turned on the two.

"What'd ya do that for?" Kaminari whined as Mineta collapsed to the floor, "It was a compliment!"

"No it wasn't" Jiro huffed while Ochako blushed furiously at whatever Midoriya had said.

The elevators dinged behind them once more to reveal Melissa dressed in blue sweetheart dress and curled hair tied up into a high ponytail. "Oh good!" She grinned, "I thought I was gonna miss you guys! Let's get downstairs to the party!"

_"The headliner has arrived!" _Mineta wailed off to the side.

"Mineta! I can't take this much beauty! I think I might actually die!" Kaminari wept.

"Hey where's your hot-blooded cousin?" Kayano turned to Rio after counting all the heads there.

"I dunno" Rio shrugged, "He kinda just stomped off when the party was mentioned so I dunno if he's even coming. Knowing him, he's probably just blowing off the party"

"Yeah, that does sound like him" Toru nodded.

Suddenly the lights around them began to flicker and a warning siren rang out across the island; every single screen on I-island displaying the same message:

_WARNING! EMERGENCY!_

_"THIS IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE I-ISLAND'S SECURITY SYSTEM"_ Intoned the calm intercom, _"WE HAVE RECEIVED A REPORT THAT AN EXPLOSIVE DEVICE WAS DISCOVERED SOMEWHERE ON THE I-EXPO GROUNDS—"_

"Oh, Katsuki what'cha do now?!" Rio muttered under her breath, well aware of the blonde's fiery almost homicidal temper.

_"—I-ISLAND WILL NOW BE IN HIGH ALERT MODE. YOUR SAFETY IS OUR TOP PRIORITY. RESIDENTS AND TOURIST SHOULD RETURN TO THEIR LODGINGS AND RESIDENTS TO THEIR HOMES. ANYONE REMAINING ON THE STREET AFTER TEN MINUTES WILL BE IN VIOLATION OF THE LAW. PLEASE CLEAR ALL PUBLIC AREAS. AS A PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE, MOST OF THE EXPO'S BUILDINGS WILL NOW BE SEALED OFF—" _All doors and windows were sealed shut one-by-one as thick metallic walls slid down, blocking off any hopes of escape. Fear was tangible in the air, mixed with the anxiety over what would happen next. And still the intercom droned on. _"I REPEAT, WE HAVE RECEIVED A REPORT OF AN EXPLOSIVE DEVICE…"_


	33. Rule #9

** _Rule #9: Never go anywhere without a knife_ **

"I'm not getting any signal" Todoroki reported as everyone checked their own phones as soon as the lockdown had commenced, "It looks like my service is completely blocked"

"Are you serious?" Mineta worried.

"The elevators' aren't working either" Added Jiro who had been repeatedly pushing their buttons.

"What the _hell _is going on here?!"

"It's strange that the system would go on high alert; that's _not _the protocol for whenever explosives are discovered" Melissa puzzled.

"But it _is _the protocol for entrapping hostages when you want a ransom" Toru frowned.

"Hostages? Who would need hostages? And what for?" Midoriya questioned.

"Think about it" Kayano jumped in, "Who's caged in a secure room right now? One way in and one way out? In one of the most spectacularly secure buildings of all time?"

"…The party…" Melissa breathed.

"Exactly"

"But how did you figure that out?"

"It's standard procedure" Toru jumped in, "Classic misdirection—whatever they want is _here _in the building_, _but they need some kind of insurance that means the heroes down there won't fight back"

"So they're probably threatening to do something large—possibly attack the civilians" Rio continued.

"Mm" Kayano nodded, "Y'know, if they've somehow hacked into the island's security system then that means they have access to all other kinds of technology too, right?"

"I'd assume so" Toru shrugged.

"Melissa" Rio turned to the blonde, "What sort of things could you access if got into the island's mainframe?"

"Everything" Melissa replied wide-eyed, "Security, medical, armoury…the opportunities are endless"

"But what does that mean for us?" Mineta wailed.

"Hm" Midoriya walked forth as he made up his mind, "Iida, let's go to that party"

"For what reason?" Iida replied.

"Because that's the place we can find All Might right now"

"Wait! All Might's in there?" Ochako questioned.

"Oh thank goodness! We don't have anything to worry about then!" Mineta sighed in relief. The three Kunugigaoka alumni girls shared a look of disbelief at that.

"So Melissa, do you know of any way we can get down there without an elevator?" Midoriya asked.

"Yeah, sure" Melissa replied, "We can use the emergency stairs; that'll at least get us close"

"Right, we'll follow your lead then"

As soon as the teens arrived at the walkway overlooking the room in which the party was held, they found a scene which confirmed the girls' suspicions. All the heroes had been bound in electrical restraints and the civilians were scattered about the place—many of whom were shivering in fear. Without hesitation Midoriya and Jiro leapt into action. Leaning over the side of the railing, Midoriya used Yaoyorozu's compact mirror to angle the lights down into the hero's eyes. Once All Might's attention was nabbed, the young hero turned to Jiro who was stationed next to him, one earjack injected into the floor at her feet.

"Okay, he knows that we're here" Midoriya pocketed the compact mirror before turning to his classmate, "Jiro is your jack in place?"

"Yeah, I'm ready" Jiro nodded.

"You can talk to us—we're listening" Midoriya whispered as he made over exaggerated hand gestures. There was a pause of silence as Jiro received the information from the bound hero.

"This is bad Midoriya, really bad" Jiro worried.

The group of teens had regrouped behind the door at the top of the service stairwell in which they first emerged. Here, away from prying eyes and wandering security cameras the teens discussed what they would do next. "We've received All Might's orders loud and clear" Iida intoned once the proper information had been relayed to the others, "He's our teacher, I suggest we follow his instructions and escape this place. Otherwise we'd be going against his will"

"I'm afraid I'd have to agree with Iida" Yaoyorozu sighed, "We're still only students, we can't fight these villains if we only have our hero licenses"

"Why don't we get outta here and tell the heroes outside?" Kaminari suggested.

"It won't very easy to escape" Melissa replied, "The security system here is on the same level as that of the Tartaros prison; which is where they keep the world's most dangerous criminals"

"Then all we can do is sit and wait…" Said Kaminari.

"Are you really okay with that, Kaminari?" Jiro jumped to her feet and turned on the blonde.

"Well, what choice do we have?"

"Don't you think we should at least _try _and stop them?"

"Hey! C'me on! Those villains have even got _All Might _trapped; there's no way that _we _can stop them if the _actual _Pros are stuck!" Retorted Mineta.

"Aren't we trying to be Pros ourselves?" Todoroki questioned glancing down at his hand in contemplation.

"Well, yes" Yaoyorozu turned to the hetromattic teen, "But we're not allowed to work as heroes, _you _know that"

"Does that mean it's right for us to do nothing at all?" He fired back.

"Well, it's complicated"

"It's really not" Toru replied, turning slightly to face the group as Rio stood on her shoulders and using her phone, let Ritsu hack into the building's security system for the blueprints. Next to them, Kayano leant against the wall with her arms crossed as the three ex-assassins-in-training listened to the heroes-in-training bitch and moan.

"What do you mean, Toru?" Ochako puzzled, "We're outnumbered, outclassed…it's hopeless"

"With attitudes like that it's a wonder how you lot are becoming heroes" Kayano pushed off from the wall as Rio handed back the hairpin she had used to pry off the panel and hopped down from Toru's shoulders.

"Hey!" Kaminari glared.

"Look, if you wanna stay here and whine, fine, but _we're _going" Toru placed her hand on the doorknob with Kayano and Rio on her heels.

"And just what do you three plan to do?" Iida stepped forth, "You don't have your hero license" He spoke to Toru, "And you two are civilians" He turned to Kayano and Rio, "Just what makes you think you can win?"

"What? You think this the first time we've hit above our weight?" Kayano smirked wickedly "Brings back memories, eh Toru?" She turned to her friend who had already slipped through the open door.

"What's a little holiday without danger?" Toru called over her shoulder.

"It's simple—" Rio turned, slipping her shoes back on as she followed her friends out the door"—Get on board, or get out of the way"

* * *

Eighty flights of steps later, the entire group of hero wannabes and civilians found themselves faced with their next obstacle: sealed bulkhead doors. The 1-A students, having decided that the couldn't let their classmate(s) nor the civilians (inside and out) come to any harm, followed after the girls as they made their way up to the control tower. "The…route's blocked" Iida panted, slightly out of breath from the impromptu climb.

"What…should we do?" Asked Todoroki "Break through it?"

"If we…did that, I'm sure the security system would alert the villains that someone was in here" Melissa replied.

"Then why don't we go through this one?" Mineta pulled open the second bulkhead door, ignorant of his classmate's protests.

"Mineta!" Midoriya cried.

"Wait! Kayano reached for the bubble-haired boy.

"No! Don't!" Added Melissa as Mineta opened the door with a ding. Everyone tensed as the door slid smoothly open to reveal the hallway on the other side; bodies dropped into defensive positions and eyes narrowed on the space through the door .Despite their nerves, no villains were hiding on the other side and the teens were able to slip through unhinged; however they were certain that the villains now knew where they were.

Zooming down the hallway, the group was quickly introduced to their first set of villains. No more than hired thugs, the villains were dressed in black shirts and vests with dark grey cargo pants tucked into black boots. Shiny faceless masks covered their heads and pockets enveloped every inch of their clothing. Both were armed. Thankfully, there were only two this time and they seemed unprepared for the sudden arrival of the teens. Of course, the students were also surprised at _their _sudden arrival. Or some of the were at least.

"Whoa!" Cried Midoriya, slamming to a halt at the sudden appearance of the thugs.

"Ah! Watch out!" Added Ochako as she slammed into his back, unprepared for the sudden stop. All around him, the teens came to a halt as they tried to quickly asses the situation. Toru, however, had other plans; instead of stopping as her classmates had done, she hastened towards the men as fast as she could go.

"Toru! Wait!" Yaoyorozu shouted as the invisible girl came into close range with the men.

"Hey! Freeze!" Commanded one thug with his gun aimed at her, but Toru paid him no mind. When she was within a meter or so of the first thug, she leapt into the air and nailed him in the chest with a well placed knee.

The thug stumbled back a few paces at the sudden attack and Toru quickly pursued after him. No sooner had her feet touched the floor, did she launch herself forward again, this time sending a roundhouse kick straight for the man's head. When heel met flesh, the man dropped to the ground in an unconscious heap at her feet, carelessly tossing his firearm aside as he did so.

Spinning on her heel as she landed silently once more, the next one fell when her heel met crotch. With face scrunched up in anguish, the second thug fell to the floor in a matter of seconds. Strutting up to the groaning mess of a man who clutched onto his injured balls like a child, she delivered a quick kick to the head to ensure that he was truly out before she turned out their pockets.

"Shit Toru" Kayano praised as she and Rio approached the girl and helped to pat the two men down. Behind them, Melissa and the other UA students remained frozen in varied stages of shock and wariness. Todoroki had even gone so far as to cover his own crotch with his hands, no doubt remembering when she had done something similar to him.

"Still going for the balls I see" Rio smiled as she unhooked a pistol from its holster and checked the barrel for ammunition.

"Hey, if they're not gonna protect the low-hanging fruit, then it's not my problem" Toru shrugged, "It's like hitting the big red button—they _always _go down"

"Ooh!" Kayano grinned puling a small device from one of the side pockets.

"What d'ya got?" Toru asked.

"This" Kayano's eyes gleamed as she held up the taser in her hands, and pushed the button, igniting it.

"Ooh! Nice find!" Rio looked over. "I've got a couple of M1911 pistols and a Liberator. What about that one over there?" She nodded towards the large firearm that he had unconsciously discarded when he had fallen.

"It's an…AR-15 rifle. One of these suckers could turn your head into a Pollock painting" Toru replied, checking over the item in question once she had retrieved it. "Only a couple of rounds in it, though—see if he has anymore"

"Ah…there's a couple here for the pistols, but not for the rifle, sorry" Rio replied.

"It's fine" Toru shrugged, testing the shoulder fit and weight of it. Throughout their scavenge of the thugs, the others had remained silently watching the girls as if they vultures picking apart corpses. "Hey Momo, can we get some duct tape?" Toru turned to the girl who startled a little at the sudden attention.

"Uh—uh, of course" Yaoyorozu stammered, but quickly produced a role of packaging tape for the girl.

"Y'know these are pretty good quality" Kayano remarked, inspecting the barrel of her 3-D printed pistol "Whoever's running this must have some seriously deep pockets"

"What-what d'ya mean?" Midoriya puzzled, a little unnerved by the girls' sudden turn in attitudes.

"Plastic firearms, most likely 3-D printed—I'd say relatively recently since plastic firearms aren't exactly durable. Easy to attain, easy to use and slip by security. If this is what the hired help is wandering 'round with, it makes you wonder what the bossman is carrying, eh?"

"Y-you're taking them with you?" Ochako stammered as Rio rose to her feet and tucked the pistols away under her dress.

"Like Kay said, if_ these guys _are runnin' 'round with this kinda gear, what makes you think the bossman won't have something worse, y'know? Better to be safe than sorry" She shrugged nonchalantly. " 'Sides you _never _bring a fist to a gun fight—that's how you get killed"

"Don't scare 'em, Rio; situation's bad enough" Toru lightly scolded, rejoining her classmates as she slung the rifle over her shoulder and took the tape from Yaoyorozu. "They got any knives?"

"Uh…there's a couple of daggers here" Kayano pulled out the offending weapons after flipping one of the men over, "You want 'em?"

"Oh yeah! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" Toru quickly snatched the blades from the actress and deftly spun them through her fingers, "Good weight, nicely balanced" She noted happily before slipping them into the purse that dangled from her shoulder. _"Where's the end to this thing?!" _She hissed as she then tried to find the end of the tape, rolling it around in her hand a few times.

"You need some help?" Rio laughed.

"No—no, I got it" Toru replied finally finding the end and peeled a length off of the roll, "Right, gimme a hand"

With practised movements, the ex-Kunugigaoka students easily bound the two men in the tape and dragged them over to the side of the hallway where they were both out of the way and in full view of the security cameras. It was a bit of a 'fuck you' to the villains, if they were honest. Once done, the girls turned to others who were still stuck in place where they had stopped. Each one sported an expression of wariness, caution, shock and surprise as they looked upon the three girls standing before them. _Of course, they've never done anything like this before. _Toru mused, _The others don't count_—_USJ, Hosu and the Sports Festival have nothing on this._

"Coming?" Toru asked, tilting her head in question as her eyes roved over the group in front of her. From Midoriya's analytic gaze to Iida's slowly reddening face, to Mineta who looked like he was about to piss himself and Melissa, who didn't appear to be quite sure if this was how it was supposed to go.

"Is there another way to go up?" Todoroki asked, his attention staying focused on the Toru but his question was directed towards Melissa.

"There should be another emergency staircase down at the other end of the hallway" Melissa replied.

"Then let's hurry" Iida nodded, taking charge once more despite his increasing desire to scold the girls for what they did. They had done good work, but they had broken _so many _rules in doing so.

"Right" Toru nodded, before spinning on her heels and took off at a gentle jog down the hallway. She was soon joined by Rio and Kayano, followed by the students of 1-A and Melissa.

As soon as the group turned the corner, all the bulkhead doors around them began to close.

"They're on to us!" Mineta wailed as they became penned in.

"We got eyes on the wall!" Kayano called out, spotting security camera aimed at them. A quick bolt of light was fired at it, and the camera knew no more.

"We need a way out!" Toru replied as smoke billowed from the melted and sparking camera.

"There! Todoroki!" Iida called as soon as he spotted a door embedded into the wall beyond the slowly closing bulkhead door in front of them.

"I'm on it!" Todoroki replied sharply as he sent a wave of ice careening for the door. With ice wedged in between the bulkhead door and keeping it open for the time being, Iida moved first.

Toru heard more than saw the damage he did to the door as she used the gravity girl as a step ladder to scale the metal door. Sitting atop the bottom of the bulkhead door, she helped Ochako to pull everyone through the gap before it closed on them. Even as she pulled the last person through the gap, she could hear the ice cracking dangerously across from her. It wouldn't be long now. "Everyone, quick!" Iida called, his form quickly becoming clearer through the dissipating smoke. "We can cross through here!"


	34. Rule #52

** _Rule #52: Always give people space when they get off of the elevator_ **

"What is this place?" Midoriya called as they emerged into what appeared to be a large greenhouse.

"It's plant factory" Melissa informed him, "They research the effects Quirks have on fauna, here—"

"—Hold on!" Jiro suddenly moved in front and swung an arm out, halting the group in their tracks. "Look! The elevator's coming up!"

"Don't tell me the villains found us already!" Mineta panicked.

"We should hide and let them pass" Midoriya suggested as he searched for said spot. Moments later, the heroes and assassins found themselves hunched behind bushes and trees as they waited for the villains to arrive and pass through.

"I wonder if we can use that elevator to get to the top floor…" Mused Kaminari from behind a bush.

"No, only authorised people can use the controls unfortunately" Melissa dashed his hopes, "And it's built like a bomb shelter, so we can't even break in and try!"

"Of _course _we can't go the easy way!" Mineta whined, gripping tight to the branches in his fists and shaking the bush slightly in irritation.

** _DING!_ **

Peering around the trunk of the palm tree she was hiding behind, Toru was able to see that the two villains who stepped out in the oversized greenhouse were dressed similarly to the two they had fought before. Though void of heavy firearms, these two sported mutation Quirks that gave no hints as to what they did. Tall and short, the two villains were like something out of a cartoon—one appeared tall and wiry like a bean stalk, whilst the other looked like a walking potato. But Toru knew better than to judge someone base on their appearances.

"Look at their clothes!" Midoriya noted, "They're definitely the villains from the party"

"They're after us!" Ochako squeaked through the hand covering her mouth.

"Stay quiet!" Iida whispered harshly.

"Please leave! I don't wanna die!" Mineta murmured into his own hands. Many of the others hunched further into their hiding spots as if that would help them, some covered their mouths to hide their loud breathing and others just tried their best to stay deathly still. Toru pulled her head back behind the trunk, her heart beating wildly in her chest as she heard the villains call out.

"Hey! We see you, stupid brats!" Came the voice of one of the villains; his tone squeaky and unthreatening. _Shit! _Toru gritted her teeth.

"What you say, you bastard?" Demanded the familiarly angry tone of Bakugou. Eyes shooting open—_When had they closed?_—She met the wide-eyed gaze of Rio, who sat at her feet.

"What are you two doing here?" Demanded the second villain, his voice decidedly lower. Peering around the trunk of her tree, Toru was able to see Bakugou and Kirishima facing off against the villains. Both were clearly dressed in formal suits and vests, with shiny loafers peeking out from beneath their pants. _Hm, never thought Bakugou would be a flower guy. _Toru mused when her eyes were drawn to the large roses embroidered up his sides.

"Heh, that's what I want to know too!" Bakugou huffed carelessly as he strode forwards with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey man, just leave this to me? Okay?" Kirishima cut in, well aware of the blonde's usual temperament. He sheepishly turned to the villains, "Um we kinda got lost looking for this party. Can you maybe point us in the right direction?"

When she felt a hand on her leg, Toru looked down to see Rio soundlessly asking for assistance. Gloved hands flowed through the silent language as Toru thought on the fly; eyes jumping between the scene in front of them, the environment around them and how to best deal with it. With a final nod shared between the two, they departed from their hiding spots and ignored the hushed pleas from the others to stay where they were.

Setting down the rifle amongst the bushes, Toru crept around to the elevator and stood behind the villains. At the same time, Rio emerged from the bushes making it appear like she had come up the garden path instead of the bushes. "There you two are!" Rio called jovially as she carelessly swung her arms over either of their shoulders, "I've been looking for you everywhere! "

"Rio?" Bakugou pushed his cousin off, a little annoyed at her attitude, "What's going on? What are you doing here?"

"Shut up and play along!" She hissed through her teeth even with her face stuck in the fake smile plastered across her lips. "Oh! Hello!" She turned to the villains as she held the pistol she pilfered earlier behind her back "Do you think you could help us? We were s'posed to meet our friends at the party, can you give us some directions?" She smiled, blonde hair swinging as spotted her invisible classmate in the gap between them.

"Show me your hands!" Demanded the shorter villain when he noticed her standing a little awkwardly, "SHOW ME YOUR HANDS!" A gun was pointed at the trio making the boys take a step or two back but Rio remained resolutely before the pair. Toru spared a quick glance over to the bushes where her classmates were doing a very poor job of hiding. _At least they're not drawing attention to themselves. _She sighed, sharing a subtle nod with Rio before she made her move.

"Y'know what?" Toru sighed, as the villains spun around to face her with surprise written across their features. Across from her, Rio pulled the pistol into view and cocked it, waiting for the signal, "I would _love _to get some ice cream after this"

"With sprinkles?" Rio replied clicking the safety off, this time catching the taller villain's attention and aiming the pistol at him.

"And chocolate dipped" Toru pulled her purse from her shoulder and the strap around her hand a couple of times to secure it. Wielding the holographic accessory like a weapon, Toru took on the short villain, and Rio the tall one. Taking the surprisingly heavy bag to the face, the villain stumbled a little as Toru followed through with a heeled roundhouse kick to the head, knocking him to the floor.

But that didn't deter the small man. Instead he simply rose to his feet and pulled a gun on the young heroine. Not one to be fazed by the small firearm, Toru spun back around and pulled one of the daggers from her purse as she did so. Ducking under the firing of bullets, she launched herself upwards into his personal space with knife in hand. Swinging upwards, she was able to slice along his chin, up across his cheek and out by his ear as he jerked his head away.

Unfortunately she didn't have the upper hand for long. What surprise she once had disappeared when she spared a glance over at the others. With pistol in hand, Rio was endlessly firing bullet after bullet towards the lean villain whose hand had morphed into this oddly-webbed bat-like thing. From the palm of his fist shot a torrent of wind that pushed the blonde assassin off of her feet and back into her cousin who looked ready to jump into the fray.

Toru cursed her moment of distraction as the stumpy villain nailed a kick to her stomach and sent her flying backwards in a surprising show of strength. She too, fell back into Kirishima where the two rolled across the ground and landed in a groaning mess next to the blondes. "Ow!" Kirishima whined from beneath his invisible classmate as the girl tried to disentangle her legs from his.

"Sorry" Toru winced as she rolled off of the red head and helped him to his feet. A quick once over of each other showed that not much other than their prides had been hurt. At least until a second volley of wind was sent their way, this one far more powerful than the last. This time, the quartet was saved by a giant glacier of ice shooting up from the bushes and blocking the way.

"This looks like…" Bakugou trailed off.

"Todoroki?" Kirishima glanced to his left where the icy-hot hero had appeared. Cracks spiderwebbed up the glacier and chunks fell off in large doses as Toru and Rio yanked the two boys away from the base of the ice. At the same time Todoroki created a patch of ice that crawled along the floor and spread out beneath their gathered classmates who had emerged from the bushes and pushed them upwards on a pillar of ice.

"The five of us can keep them busy down here" Todoroki instructed, "Look for a way to get to the top"

"What are you doing?" MIdoriya demanded as the ice pushed them upwards.

"Todoroki!" Yaoyorozu protested.

"We'll be right behind once this mess is cleaned up!" Todoroki reassured them.

"Wait! I can help!" Kayano looked as if she was about to jump off the side of the ever-rising pillar.

"Help them!" Toru called through cupped hands, "Hey! Rio, you still have your phone?"

"Yeah? Why?" Rio puzzled, pulling out said device from where she had stored it in her bra.

"Can you get Ritsu to send the same information to my phone?"

"Uh sure" The blonde nodded, quickly typing away on her phone as she turned to the base of the pillar. "KAYANO! CATCH!" Reeling back, Toru launched her phone up into the air where the two-toned girl leant fearlessly leant out over the side to pluck the phone from the air.

"Done" Rio stated as the faint notification sound pinged up above them.

"Good" Toru nodded,

"Who's Ritsu?" Kirishima asked. Rio simply turned her phone around to face the puzzled boys.

"He~llo!" Ritsu sang, her pixels shining bright in the evening light, "I'm Ritsu! It's nice to meet you!"

"Is that—is that an AI?"

"No, she's an AIFA" Rio replied, tucking her phone away.

"AIFA?"

"Autonomously Intelligent Fixed Artillery" Toru supplied.

"F-fixed Artillery?" Kirishima stammered.

"Yeah, but this is just the mobile version" Rio ended nonchalantly.

"Rio! Just what the hell is going on?!" Bakugou turned on his cousin with arms crossed and brow furrowed.

"You didn't hear the broadcast alert, Suki?" Rio asked, surprised. Bakugou scowled at the nickname, "Nevermind then, some thugs have hacked the tower—they've got hostages and a means"

"What!" Kirishima cried in shock.

"Wait! _That's_ what this is about?!" Bakugou exclaimed.

"We'll explain the rest later; right now we need to deal with _these goons"_ Toru nodded towards the base of the glacier where the silhouettes of both villains could be seen forcing their way through. Soon enough, large chunks of ice flew outwards in a burst of wind as the two villains emerged into the light once more.

"What's with this guy's Quirk?" Bakugou complained as the five of them fell into defensive stances.

"Stay on your guard" Todoroki warned.

"Shut _up! _I know that!" Bakugou snapped as the stumpy villain stepped up with a leering expression on his face.

"So you wanna pick a fight?" He snarled before shaking furiously and transforming into a purple hulk-like creature, _"Let's see how tough you really are!"_

Todoroki and Rio wasted no time in firing first. Jagged ice was launched towards the villain but it was easily broken through as though it was nothing more than glass. In turn, Rio's bullets either bounced harmlessly off of the purple skin as if they were made of rubber. Rushing through the rapidly expanding ice, the villains dashed towards them like an angry bull. They only dodged with centimetres to spare. "HN! DIE!" Bakugou screamed as he fired an explosion towards the back of the villain, only to be pushed aside when the villain emerged from the smoke unharmed.

"BAKUGOU!" Kirishima hardened his forearms just in time to be punched all the way across the room where he became embedded in a wall. Even a wall of ice (courtesy of Todoroki) couldn't stop him.

"KIRISHIMA—!" Bakugou cried, worried about his friend.

"SUKI! MOVE!" Rio cried, spotting the villain coming back for another swing and used Bakugou's shoulders as a springboard, launching herself forward towards the purple villain, intent on separating him from his partner. Jumping over the villain, Rio twisted in the air and grabbed tight to the villains spikey locks as she landed, yanking his head back in the process, "TORU!"

"Com~ing!" Toru sang, jumping up and landing several fiery punches to the villains head. It didn't do much, mostly enraged the villain who easily threw the two girls off of him. However, he was left with serval fist-shaped burns decorating his face.

A ferocious roar bellowed out of the purple villain, strings of spit dangling from both jaws as he threatened the girls. Running full-force at them, the two ex-assassins jumped out of the way just in time, and soon enough began a game of keep-away. "Aw! We should've asked Momo for a missile launcher!" Toru whined as she dodged the next attack. Neither her heliokinetics nor Rio's bullets seemed to be doing much damage to the villain. Behind them, both boys faced off against the wiry, wind-wielding villain. They too, didn't seem to be having much success but that wasn't deterring them; if anything, it seemed to push the two heroes further.

"Well, we'll need to figure out something soon" Rio replied, pistol still cocked "I'm almost out of ammo"

"At least we've still got the rifle…" Toru replied.

"Where?" Rio asked sharply.

"Base of palm tree, where we were hiding before"

"If I distract ugly, can you get the rifle?"

"You sure you'll be okay with 'im?"

" 'Course! Who d'ya take me for? 'Sides he's no Koro-Sensei"

"Fair enough" Toru nodded agreeably, "Ready?"

"3, 2, 1, GO!" With that both girls darted to the sides, Toru going left and Rio going right. The villains seemed confused about who to go after. "HEY! UGLY!" Rio shouted, madly waving her arms in the air.

"Rio…what are you doing?!" Bakugou hissed as he caught sight of his cousin.

"COME AND GET ME YA BIG CHICKEN!" Rio ignored Bakugou and turned on her heel, sprinting for the forestry on the other side of the facility with the enraged villain right on her heels.

Meanwhile, Toru sprinted back over to the bushes where the rifle lay waiting. A quick check of the barrel showed the few clips that were still full from the previous villain. _This'll have to do. _Toru huffed. With no more ammo for the rifle, Rio would have to make her shots count—not that she doubted the blonde or anything, but still…

As she came passed the elevator, Toru spotted an access panel and an idea came to mind. Melissa had said that there was no way to access the elevator without the security codes, but what about the elevator shaft? _It's not like anyone would be paranoid enough to barricade that, would they? _Standing up, Toru turned back to the fight at hand. And not a moment too soon. When Toru rose once more it was to Rio, Bakugou and Todoroki standing back-to-back squaring off against the two villains.

It looked like the villains were taunting them, but Toru couldn't quite make out what they were saying—at least until Bakugou screamed his profanities again and launched forward in a explosion of fiery rage. Meeting the purple hulk head-on, Bakugou exercised his frustrations out on the villain whilst Todoroki took on the other. Rio, who had been in between the two boys, jogged over to Toru and grabbed the rifle off of her.

"Still need this?" Toru gestured with the rifle.

"They seem to have it covered" Rio mused, "But I'll take it anyway"

"Better safe than sorry"

"Yeah…hey, wasn't that rule #18?"

"Rule #18a"

"Oh yeah" Rio sat back against the elevator wall as Toru pried off the access panel. "What'cha doing?"

"Can you pass me Ritsu?" Toru asked, yanking out some of the wires so she could connect the phone "I noticed that the villains were communicating with ones outside of this facility—probably bossman or the ones with the flies on the wall. Anyway, I figured, if Ritsu could hack into the system too, then she could block their frequencies—"

"—And stop them from communicating!"

"Yeah"

"But how does that help us outta here?" Rio spared a glance over at the boys who almost seemed to enjoy pummelling the villains, if their devilish smirks were anything to go by. "It's not like we can just jump up to the walkways"

"Remember how Melissa said we couldn't access the elevators?"

" 'Cause of all the security measures, right?"

"Yeah, well, she never said anything about the shafts, so…"

"…So you're thinking if we can get the doors open, we'll be able to scale the shaft?"

"Yeah, that's the plan anyway"

"But those doors must be welded shut! There's no way we're hacking into 'em now!"

"I never said anything about hacking the doors" Toru smirked, "Leave them to me"

Another big explosion ripped through the facility, blowing out strongly heated shockwaves that rippled like broken water. "There he goes again" Rio sighed, watching as her cousin blew himself up for the umpteenth time. "Why do boys like blowing things up so much?" She turned to her invisible friend.

"I dunno, maybe you should ask Kay?" Toru shrugged as she moved away from hooking Ritsu into the system, leaving her to surf the network and sort out their issues. Facing the elevator doors head on, she curled her right-handed fingers up into claws and pointed them towards the doors; where she then proceeded to attack the metal like a welder. "She _is _the pyrotechnic after all"

"Yeah, I s'pose" Rio agreed, her thoughts drifting to the point in time when Kayano sported a pair of great long tentacles and had set herself alight in the name of revenge. "Oh, looks like the boys are done—here they come"

Glancing away from the elevator doors, Toru noticed that all three boys appeared to be relatively unharmed. All three of them were missing bits of clothing, however—from Todoroki's blazer and shirt sleeve, to both the bottom half of Kirishima's blazer sleeves and back again, to Bakugou who sported only one red sleeve under his embroidered vest. Turning back to task at hand, Toru missed the greeting from Kirishima as Rio rose to meet them.

"Oi! Sunshine! What are you doing!" Bakugou growled, making Toru frown at the nickname.

"Sunshine?" She puzzled.

"Oh shut _up!"_

"But you just—"

"—Toru, did ya get it?" Rio interrupted.

"Uh yeah" Toru replied as a nicely-shaped cutout from the door fell into the shaft, hitting the top of the elevator (which had returned earlier at some point) before falling further down. "Can you see if Ritsu's finished?"

"Sure" Rio agreed amicably, moving over to see if Ritsu was done. When she received the confirmation from the AIFA, the phone was disconnected from the panel.

"HEY! What the hell is going on?!" Bakugou demanded.

"Did she disrupt their frequencies?" Toru asked, ignoring Bakugou's attempts at demanding answers.

"Uh yeah, she's playing the _Badass Bitch_ playlist"

"Bitch-Sensei's one?"

"Uh huh" Rio nodded as she slipped her phone away.

"Cool"

"Toru, what _are _you doing?" Todoroki questioned, a little confused by the girl's actions.

"Making an exit" Toru replied.

"An exit?" Kirishima furrowed his brows in thought as he peered up and down the shaft.

"Uh huh"

"How the hell are we s'posed to climb that thing?" Bakugou sneered.

"Well, I figured you and Todoroki could probably sort yourselves out—shoot yourself up or something, but I'll take Kiri and Rio with me" Toru replied evenly.

"And how the hell do you plan to do that? Huh?"

Toru opened her mouth to reply but was quickly cut off by wailing sirens, the _pew! Pew! _of hot red lasers pointed straight at them and the sounds of Manny Quinn echoing all around them. "MOVE!" Toru shoved Bakugou to the ground just as the others hit the deck at her call. "Everyone okay?"

"G'off!" Bakugou grumbled.

"Yeah, you're okay" Toru muttered clambering off of the blonde. The wall of ice at her back told her that Todoroki put it up just in time, though it was starting to crack under all the fire.

"I'm good" Kirishima called.

"Me too" Todoroki agreed, sitting up.

"Rio?" Toru turned to her friend who sat hunched over and clutching her stomach. "Rio? Are you alright?"

"Son of a bitch!" Rio cursed, "That's gonna hurt tomorrow!"

"Rio?" Toru slid in front of her friend as the blonde slowly sat up; Bakugou appeared over her shoulder, worried for his cousin. Thankfully Toru didn't see any blood on her dress, but she wanted to be sure. Carefully undoing the halter top of her dress, Toru peeled away the fabric to see something that made her pause.

_"Ooh!" _Toru grinned as her eyes met the kevlar corset beneath, "A corset? Nice upgrade"

"Kevlar—but make it fashion" Rio joked, wincing a little when her laugh turned to a hiss.

"Well, thankfully the corset wasn't pierced—" Toru traced the smoking outline of the laser hole in the bottom of the corset, "But you'll likely have some bruising. This is gonna hurt tomorrow" Toru sat back so Rio could put her dress back together, "Y'know, I gotta ask why a corset?"

"Those damn vest were just _so damn _bulky" Rio replied as she tied off the halter and she grinned at the red cheeks of the boys around them. Todoroki and Kirishima refused to look at Rio and Bakugou was resolutely looking at her shoulders and up.

"But _oh so_ comfortable"

"What'cha do with yours?"

"Mine? I turned it into an underwear set"

"Really? Battle underwear?"

"Says the chick in a kevlar corset"

"Touché"

Just then the ice behind them cracked and splintered, sending ice everywhere. Not giving anyone time to react, Toru quickly shoved Bakugou and Todoroki through the cutout and into the elevator shaft. A quick glance was spared over her shoulder at the horde of waist-high security red robots as the sounds of Bakugou's curse floated upwards. With heart pounding in her chest, she wrapped a hand around Kirishima and Rio's wrists before following after.

"AHH!" Kirishima yelled into her ear as the trio free-fell for a moment or two. Passing by Todoroki who had somehow latched on to the wall of the shaft with icy palms and, Bakugou who was in the process of launching himself upwards; before light enveloped her body and the three shot upwards like a rocket.

"Are you two coming?" Toru asked when they became level with the two pyrokinetic boys, getting in before Bakugou could explode.

"Toru…" Todoroki breathed, his eyes wide at what he saw. Toru, now enveloped in light, hovered in the air like a fairy as she held Kirishima and Rio by their wrists.

"What?" Toru tilted her head in question, golden eyes shining like torches in the night.

"You're—you're…you can fly?!" Bakugou demanded.

"Well, since I apparently float in my sleep, it only makes sense that I could fly when I'm awake" Toru shrugged.

"You _what?"_

"Oh yeah! I remember you doing that during camp once!" Rio nodded, "Scared the crap outta Itona—he thought you were possessed or something"

"How was I s'posed to know he's scared of demons?"

"Who _isn't _scared of demons?"

"Devils…?"

"Aren't they the same thing?"

"How should I know?" Toru readjusted her grip on the two teens, "C'me on, let's go"


	35. Rule #55

** _Rule #55: Don't be bullheaded and rush through the china shop_ **

"Left!" Ritsu chirped from Toru's hand as she led the teenagers through the twisting hallways of the upper levels. The elevator shaft had stopped a few levels below where they were right now—as some kind of security measure, the fortified elevator only went up so far; leaving the teens to find another way up. "Right!"

Sweat decorated Toru's skin like raindrops as the group ran; as it turned out she _could _fly but not very far or very long—she'd only just figured out how—and after dragging two bodies with her, it had served to greatly tire her out. She'd ditched her heels at some point, leaving them forgotten in an unmarked corridor, her dress was decorated with burnt holes & smoking hems and her purse was probably still in the greenhouse facility alongside the bots and villains.

"Exit to your right!" Ritsu called as a door came into sight and not a moment too soon. Bakugou, who had been in the lead, burst through the door and fired a explosive punch at one of the security drones that had launched itself into the air at Ochako. Next, Todoroki sent a wave of ice towards a group of bots headed towards where Ochako stood at the base of the wind turbines as he and Kirishima exited the building. Bringing up the rear was Rio and Toru, who quickly emerged and joined the girl at the base of the turbines' shelves.

"That was close!" Rio huffed a laugh, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine" Ochako replied, "I used my Quirk on Deku and Melissa, they should be able to reach the top"

"Good work, now you can help us deal with these things!" Rio fired a bullet towards the kink in the proverbial armour of an approaching drone, hitting whatever was inside and making it glitch and spaz.

"Who died and made you boss?" Bakugou complained as he punched and kicked his way through the bots.

"I'm always the boss of you, Suki!" Rio grinned.

_"Dream on!"_

"Thanks so much, you gu—ahhh!" Midoriya called down, only to be blown backwards by the large force of the turbines.

"Oh no! They're blowing away!" Ochako cried, unable to cancel her Quirk for fear of what would happen to the two if they fell from that kind of height.

"Toru!" Rio commanded.

"On it!" Toru replied, rushing out from underneath the large shelves of turbines. Light enveloping limbs and legs coiled, Toru launched herself upwards with such force that a small crater was left on the ground in her wake. Pushing through her exhaustion, she flew up towards the pair, using the currents from the wind turbines to reach them faster. "Got'cha!" Toru triumphed as she grabbed a hold of Midoriya's gloved wrist.

"H-Hagakure! You're—you're flying!" Midoriya gasped.

"Yeah! I know!" Toru laughed, wrapping both hands around Midoriya's wrist and with an almighty heave, dragged the pair up towards the building in question.

"Lookout! We're going to hit the wall!" Melissa cried from where she was clinging to Midoriya's back.

"Sorry!" Toru wheezed covered in sweat.

"Hagakure! Drop me!" Midoriya ordered.

"What?!"

"Drop me!"

"Alright!" Trusting that the green-haired boy knew what he was doing, Toru switched her grip from his wrist to Melissa's. Once he was free, Midoriya free fell towards a section of the wall that was unblemished by walkways or turbines. The girls watched as green lightning danced around the boy and his veins ran red with his Quirk as he destroyed the wall with a single punch.

"Close your eyes!" Toru instructed as she flew in after him, holding her breath against the cloud of debris billowing out.

"Ah! Deku! Are you okay?" Melissa cried as Toru set her down before stumbling to a landing herself. Running over the boy, Melissa helped him to his feet whilst Toru sat back against some rubble and tried to regain her breath, wiping the sweat from her eyes as she did so.

"I think so" Midoriya replied, "I'm more worried about you"

"I'm fine" Melissa smiled, "Just some scratches"

"That's go—"

"MOVE!" Toru suddenly shouted as another villain appeared, swinging a blade downwards like he meant to behead the two. Thankfully, Midoriya was able to roll himself and Melissa out of the way just in time. Rushing forth, Toru caught the bladed hand between her own burning ones. And just in time too, with Melissa and Midoriya beneath her feet, Toru tried her best to fight the villain off.

"You shouldn't have come here!" The villain threatened, pushing her back towards the opening behind them.

"What the hell is your deal?!" Toru fired back, increasing the intensity of heat between her fingers.

_"Raaaah! You bitch!"_ The villain cried out in pain as his blade began to slowly melt down. An odd mixture of burning flesh, hair and metal filled the air making Toru's stomach roil when it flittered up her nostrils. She didn't see the kick coming until it was too late. One hand flew to her mouth to fight the rising bile and the other flew out to scrabble for a hold on the ledge as she was thrown overboard.

Dangling several stories up in the air, Toru was unable to keep the contents of her stomach in and vomited down onto the concrete below. Eyes screwed shut as she tried her best to ignore the sounds of her own body retching and she curled her free hand into the side of the building with heated claws, hoping against hope that it would be enough to keep her alive. From down below she could've sworn that she heard Bakugou shout curses up at her, but it was hard to tell over the roar of the wind turbines.

When her stomach had finally calmed enough for her to wipe away the excess bile dripping from her mouth, she shakily began to try and pull herself back inside. She didn't get very far until hands gripped onto hers and pulled her inside. "Are you alright, Toru?" Melissa asked as Midoriya handed her a cloth to wipe her mouth. They both seemed fine, no injuries to speak of, sans the small make-shift bandage tied around Melissa's forearm.

"Thanks" Toru nodded, "Uh yeah, yeah, I'm good…Bakugou might be a bit pissy, though"

"Kaachan?" Midoriya puzzled.

"Uh, d'you get the villain?" Toru asked.

"He's over there" Melissa pointed towards where the villain was now encompassed by a pile of rubble, no doubt Midoriya's handiwork.

"Well, let's go then" Midoriya stood up, "We're almost to the top"

* * *

"Melissa, where's the control room located?" Toru asked as she, Midoriya and Melissa snuck through the hallways of the top floor.

"In front of the central elevator" Melissa replied. Coming to a stop at the final corner, the trio peered around the side, like heads on a totem pole.

"Someone's in there" Midoriya murmured, trying to get a better look.

"Huh? Papa!" Melissa gasped when she spotted her father at the computer, his back to them.

"Whoa! It is!"

"Why is he up here?" Toru puzzled.

"Maybe the villains brought him here, they might need something from him" Midoriya replied.

"Are you sure?" Toru narrowed her eyes at the man, "He doesn't seem upset about being here…"

"It doesn't matter!" Melissa hissed, "We have to help him!"  
"Right" Midoriya nodded, "But how?"

"Leave that to me" Toru stated as she stepped back from the corner and proceeded to undo her dress.

"H-Hagakure! What—what are you doing?!" Midoriya burnt red.

"Oh calm down, Midoriya" Toru rolled her eyes with a sigh as her dress pooled at her feet, revealing the set of holographic lingerie she wore beneath. "I'm wearing underwear"

After pulling all manner of items from her body that would reveal where she was and leaving them in a pile around the corner (except for Rio's phone which she tucked into her bra), Toru crept silently into the storage room which the Professor occupied. Coming to a stop next to one of the many computers, Toru crouched down next to a maintenance panel and listened in.

"I've unlocked it!" Exclaimed Professor Dave. "Locker 11-47"

"Wonderful!" Cheered Sam, his assistant (Toru could only just make out the name tag clipped to his breast pocket).

"It's opening!" Dave called as Sam ran to retrieve the case from the now open locker.

"You did it Professor! Look! Everything is here! It's perfect!" Sam popped the case open to reveal the tech inside. Toru had to slap a hand over her mouth to hold in the gasp at what she saw. She had no idea what the headgear was for, but the single glass vial that sat next to it made her heart jump into her throat. _But that's not possible! All of Shiro's research was destroyed! How the hell did they get that vial?! _Toru panicked.

"Finally…!" Dave sighed, "I've gotten it back. All my research and they just took my device away from me! But now it's mine!"

"Just like we planned" Sam commented, clicking the briefcase shut, "And it looks like the villains are holding things down"

"Thank you, I couldn't have done any of this without your help, Sam" Dave trotted up the stairs to retrieve the case.

"Papa…" Breathed Melissa, finally coming into the room.

_What?! _Toru peered over to see Melissa and Midoriya standing in the doorway, _I thought I told them to stay put!_

"Melissa…No…!" Dave panicked.

"Miss, what are you doing here?" Sam tried.

"What does he mean that _'it's like you planned it' _?" Melissa strode forth, unwavering. "Don't tell me that…you were the one behind this!…This was all you? Just to steal something? NO! It can't be true!"

"…Yes it is" Dave admitted solemnly.

"Huh? Papa, how could you?!" Melissa demanded.

"The Professor is only trying to get back what was stolen" Sam defended, "The invention inside this briefcase can amplify someone's Quirk"

"Wait—is that even possible?" Midoriya questioned.

"Yes, it's still being tested of course. But unlike with drugs, this device can _magnify _a person's Quirk, without doing any damage to their body or brain"

"Is that what he's telling you?" Toru's tone was cold as she emerged from her hiding place. All eyes fell on her invisible form—or at least the holographic underwear she wore as it faded into view.

"W-What are you talking about?" Sam tried to deflect, his parlour paling and eyes flitting around the place as he tried to come up with an excuse.

"Sam?" Dave turned to his assistant, but was ignored.

"Or perhaps" Toru narrowed her eyes at the Professor before turning back to Sam, "That's what you're telling him. The _Antimatter Tentacle Serum_, where'd you get it?"

"I—I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Don't lie to me" Her tone grew colder and her narrowed eyes glowed golden as they came into view when she strode forth, making Sam stumble backwards with each step "How did you get access to Professor Yanagisawa's research? That laboratory was destroyed months ago. Only a couple of vials escaped unscathed; one of which is in your hands right now. So I'll ask again, _where_ did you get it?"

"Sam? what is she talking about?" Dave asked again, confused at the questioning.

"Would like to tell him, or shall I?" Toru asked.

"Uh—I—I…" Sam stammered, looking like his entire world was crumbling around him.

"Your_ 'research' _contains one of the few remaining vials from the Antimatter trials headed by Professor Yanagisawa Kotaro of _Yanagisawa Labratories"_

"You speak as if you know what'll happen…" Dave stated, brows furrowed.

"Yes" Toru admitted, feeling the gaze of her peers on her back "These are the very laboratories that performed inhumane trials—both animal and human— in the name of scientific discovery and were destroyed exactly one week after the moon lost 70% of its surface area. This is the same laboratory that produced two monsters: the teacher and the scientist. Tell me Professor, what say you?"

"S-Sam! You told me that serum was your own design!" Dave turned on the portly man. "All this work! We'd be labelled as frauds!"

"That's only if word got out!" Sam snapped, "We did good work! You tested it yourself! This device will save hundreds!"

"I see" Toru mused quietly, "So he knew, but you didn't"

"Papa…" Melissa cried, tears gathering in her eyes, "Why…?"

The Professor appeared defeated as he slumped over where he stood. No matter his intentions, he was unable to meet his daughter's eyes, nor could he look at his assistant with that information laid bare. He heaved a sigh and then reluctantly began his tale. "Our sponsors confiscated the prototype and our—the research data. Then they demanded that we abandoned the project; they worried that something like this would drastically stress the structure of superhuman society. Fearing chaos, governments from different nations put pressure on me to end it" Dave sighed "I s'pose if what you say is true, then they had real reason to fear our work…"

"There _is _a reason Yanagisawa's on Japan's _Most Wanted_ list" Toru agreed.

"We planned to hire actors playing villains, to steal back our work" This time it was Sam who picked up the story, his fervent tone picking up as the story progressed."No one would be harmed and I'd have my work back to continue elsewhere. We waited for the perfect opportunity—the I-expo opening. The tower would be closed and everyone would be together at the reception. We'd pull the strings in the background whilst the 'villains' make I-Island seem like it's been attacked"

"I don't understand…!" Melissa cried, "There's something I'm missing…right? You'd _never _do this"

"I'm _so _sorry" Dave murmured.

"This doesn't make any sense! The Papa I know would _never _act like a villain, no matter what! So why then? Why?"

"I had to, for All Might. You probably aren't aware of this, but his Quirk is disappearing. However, if he uses this device he'll be his old self. No—his abilities will be even stronger than they were! The Number One Hero! The Symbol of Peace! Can get his strength and light back again!" A manic grin spread across the Professor's face, "He can keep saving people! Just like he always has!"

"You know he's not a God, right?" Toru spoke softly as if talking to an upset child, "Professor, he's just a man"

"I know that!" Dave spun around angrily to face Toru, "This'll make him better! He can keep saving people!"

"Do you not hear yourself? Isn't he your friend? Why are you talking about him like he's a figurehead to wage wars for?" Her eyes glazed over as her thoughts turned to Koro-Sensei and his demise "He's just a man; he gets sick, he dies, he's only human. Like us"

_"Please! Please! Let me just hand this device over to All Might!" _Dave cried, running up to snatch the briefcase from Sam, "There's no time to remake it! When he's better, I don't care what my punishment is!"

"They—they risked their lives!" Melissa wept, "DEKU AND HIS CLASSMATES WENT THROUGH SO MUCH—!" She yanked off the cloth around her arm to reveal a thin clean cut that was still weeping slightly, "—DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THIS WAS?! HOW HARD WE WERE TRYING TO SAVE EVERYONE ON THE ISLAND?!"

"No…What do you mean? The villains…they're fake" Dave turned to a sheepish Sam, "It's all supposed to be an act"

Toru welcomed the small reprieve between battles that allowed her to regain her breath as much as possible. Her limbs shook a little in their exhaustion and she wanted nothing more than to crash on her bed and sleep—well, maybe she'd have that ice cream Rio promised, but it was mostly sleep. _God! I could sleep for a week! _Toru watched the proceedings play out in front of her like she was watching a play. However, her reprieve was quickly cut short by the arrival of the main villain.

"Of _course _it was a performance!" The villain declared as he made his entrance. At the same time,

Toru shamelessly blinked out of existence, leaving Midoriya and Melissa in the villain's sight. "But the_ real _act was pretending we _weren't _criminals"

"He's the boss!" Midoriya cried as he lit up like a green candle, preparing to launch an attack. At the same time, the villain simply place his hand against the metallic wall to his right and the railing across the room came alive. Coiling around Midoriya, the railing pinned him to one of the computers so that he couldn't move or speak.

"Oh no! Deku!" Melissa cried.

"You'd be smart not to resist" The villain stated as he came to the foot of the stairs, not far from where Toru was standing."Sam, hand it over"

"Right" Sam snatched the briefcase back from Dave and rushed down the stairs to hand it to the villain. "Uh, here ya go"

"Sam? This was _your _plan?!" Dave exclaimed, "You were going to hand it over all along?"

_"You_ tricked _me, _Professor" Sam snapped, "I've been your assistant for all these years and you _let them _take our work! We could've had fame and fortune! But no! I _deserve _more—!"

_You deserve a swift kick in the pants! _Toru snarled. Taking advantage of the assistant's monologuing, she crept over to her bound classmate and silently set to work melting through the restraints.

"—I_ need_ to be rewarded! Otherwise my _entire_ _career _was a complete _waste of time!"_

"Hn" Dave grumbled, turning his head away from the man with white-knuckled fists.

"Well, this is all _very touching" _The villain sassed as he cocked his gun, "Here's the payment I promised you"

** _BANG!_ **

"Sam!" Melissa gasped from Toru's left as they stood next to Midoriya.

"No! Why…?" Sam gasped, clutching to the painful and bloody shoulder. "This isn't part of the plan!"

"Is it not?" The villain taunted, "That's strange…because it was always a part of mine!"

"Don't look" Toru instructed as she swung Melissa around just as she saw the trigger begin to squeeze. She'd seen enough today.

** _BANG!_ **

The second bullet shot straight through Sam's head, sending brain and blood flying everywhere; painting the scene like a Jackson Pollock piece. However, by some stroke of luck, Sam wasn't dead, at least not yet. "NNRR!" Midoriya garbled out through his metallic gag as he watched the villain cock his gun again.

"Looks like you have some resolve after all" The villain taunted.

"No! Don't turn around!" Toru held Melissa's elbow in a tight grip, forcing the blonde to stay watching Midoriya's reactions and listen to the scene behind her.

** _BANG!_ **

Toru could only watch as the third bullet was fired and the Professor launched himself forward to protect his old friend. Again blood splattered the ground, some even hitting the briefcase as the two men lay on the ground groaning in pain. In his last few moments, Sam could only garble out gurgling noises as blood swam in his throat; with his old colleague at his side. "Get…outta…here" Dave gasped as he bled out on the floor.

"PAPA!" Melissa cried, twisting around at her father's voice and racing over to him.

"Shit" Toru muttered, spinning around also.

"STAY BACK!" Dave cried as the villain pistol-whipped Melissa and knocked her away, "MELISSA!"

"Trying to be a hero after all this?" The villain taunted, pressing Dave into the floor with his boot as Midoriya writhed and struggled in his restraints. "Too late for that; no matter what your reasons were, you've dirtied your hands now. Whether we're real villains or actors is irrelevant. You planned and committed an _actual _crime here—you're exactly the same as we are. You can no longer remain a respected scientist or continued your research without shame. Your life is forever tainted by the darkness of villainy—" Bending down to Dave's level, he continued "And if you want a future at all, you'll be a good little scientist and mass-produced this device so I can sell it!" With that he slammed his pistol down on the Professor's head, knocking him out.

"Hey! Yeah! Quick question!" Toru piped up, coming in to view and waving her hand around as if she were asking a question in class. She ignored the odd responses she got from those around her as she came to a stop next to Melissa (who still lay on the ground). "Did you practise all this in the mirror this morning or is this all just off the cuff?"

"So _you're_ the fifth voice in the room" He rose from his crouch and cocked his gun once more, "Information like that must make you one of Deity of Death's brats, innit that right? _Ooh!_ It's my lucky night! Y'know how much is on your brats' heads?"

"You say that like I'm just gonna roll over" _Isn't that one of Koro-Sensei's nicknames?_

"No, you're gonna die"

"We'll see" Toru raised her hands in the air as if she were going to surrender.

"Haha! Giving up already?! I thought you weren't going to roll over?!"

"I'm not" Turning her palms up towards the lights around them, she closed her eyes, sucked in a deep breath and quickly began to suck all the light out of the room. Darkness blanketed the room like thick paint, it almost didn't seem real. "Head down" She hissed, using one of her feet to push the blonde's face down to the floor before her eyes snapped open and she threw her arms outwards. Like she was trying to tear the heavens open, light exploded outwards from her body as if a bomb had gone off. Rings of light pulsated from her figure, the potency of the light fading the further it reached; like ripples in a pond.

Though the harmfulness and execution of the attack may have left a little to be desired, it did serve to knock the villain off of their feet and free Midoriya of his restraints (though he did receive a couple of burns for his troubles). Of course Toru was blown back too. Shooting backwards, Toru slammed into the wall next to where Midoriya had been only moments before and slide to the floor with a cry of pain. Melissa, who had been sheltering on the floor, appeared to be the only one unharmed as she had been within the blast radius when Toru went off. "Toru!" Melissa cried after she had risen from the floor to find the aftermath of the attack.

"Did—Did I get 'im?" Toru groaned raising her pounding head from its slump.

"Is that all you've got?! Haha! Pathetic!" The villain laughed from behind a large wall of metal "Hey! You! Take 'em to the roof!"

Midoriya moved next, now free of his restraints, launched a superpowered punch towards the wall in front of them. A crater echoed around his fist but didn't break through the wall, instead several more erupted into existence around the teens, pinning them in. "Melissa, I've them, you save everyone else!" He called. She nodded in assent and shot off towards the control room, dodging walls as she went.


	36. Rule #37

** _Rule #37: There will always be people more powerful than you_ **

_Did—did I pass out? _Toru clutched to her pounding head as her eyes blinked lazily open. _I—I must've…_ Glancing around, she found herself still in the storage room she found that the only person still in the room with her was the slowly dying body of Sam. The vacant and glazed over look in his eyes told her that he didn't have very long—it was a wonder he'd lasted as long as he did. Heaving herself to her feet, she searched for something to cover him with. She hadn't particularly taken a liking to the man, but he was dying and some respect should be paid, no matter who he was or what he did. Eventually settling on a scrap of the villain's overcoat, she laid it over his head and disappeared through the side door on the way to the roof.

"DON'T YOU DARE LOOSE THAT SMILE, ALRIGHT YOUNG MIDORIYA!" All Might cried as he burst onto the scene. "IT IS FINE NOW, BECAUSE I AM HERE!"

"Quit monologuing Sensei!" Toru called out as she shot passed him. Bypassing All Might's need for a grand dramatic entrance and Midoriya who appeared to be screaming at the helicopter from within a crater of his own making, Toru launched herself into the sky. Enveloped in light once more, the girl shot straight for the helicopter like a shooting star.

Attacking the bird at just the right angle, she was able to slip through the open door and yank the bleeding Professor out as she shot out the other side without taking any of the villains head on. The pair came to a stop a fair ways above the helicopter, floating amongst the clouds just as dawn began to peek over the horizon. Shifting the Professor's weight in her hands so that she was holding him by the scruff of his clothes, she fired a compressed shot straight towards the rotor blades. The bird spiralled downwards where it was met with a powerful uppercut from All Might and subsequently blown to pieces.

"Is—is something burning?" Dave questioned when the smell of burnt toast started to permeate.

"Sorry, that's me" Toru apologised as she glanced down to see the fist in his clothes was smoking. Swinging him up into her arms like an oversized baby, Toru flew over to the helipad where the pair stumbled to a landing in front of the others.

"That was some nice flying, young Hagakure" All Might praised, taking his old friend from her.

"Uh…thanks, Sensei" Toru muttered as she moved aside for the blonde.

"Papa!" Melissa cried rushing over.

"M-Melissa…?" Dave breathed from where he was cradled in All Might's arms as the hero got rid of his chains.

"Everything will be okay" All Might reassured.

"We did it…" Midoriya breathed joining the group.

"I'm…so sorry" Dave apologised "It's my fault…"

And all was right with the world…until a large metal fist came flying out of nowhere and knocked All Might away like he was fly. "ALL MIGHT!" Midoriya exclaimed as a large electrical wire snaked forth and wrapped itself around the professor, dragging him backwards.

"PAPA!" Melissa wailed as she watched her father disappear once more.

"PROFESSOR!"

"I heard Sam—" The villain—now sporting Dave's device—taunted, "—All Might's Quirk is failing him! He doesn't have the same unstoppable power he once did!"

"He's using the Professor's device!" Toru noted, staring up at the monstrous metallic structure illuminated by the flames of the helicopter "He better not have used that serum!"

"What's in that serum, Toru?" Melissa questioned, "You were so upset when you saw it earlier"

"It's…bad news…it's just bad news. It took a monster to birth a nightmare" Toru breathed, not really listening to what she was saying.

"YOU REALLY DON'T KNOW WHEN TO GIVE UP, DO YOU?" All Might decreed from behind them as he shot forth like a bullet and fired a punch towards the villain. "TEXAS SMASH!" Unfortunately, it was met with a metallic wall that would not crumble.

"Is that all you got?" The villain laughed, waving his hand and sending out more spikes to skewer the hero. But that wasn't all. All around them, pieces of metal began to peel away from buildings, they floated up from the streets and out through shattered windows. _Oh! I'm so glad I don't have braces anymore! _Toru thought hysterically as a sheet of metal flew passed her face.

"Dang!" The villain's voice sounded layered as he spoke "The Professor's genius lives up to its reputation! I can tell my Quirk's growing more powerful! Haha! It feels _amazing! _I'm _never _taking this off!"

"Holy. Shit" Toru felt her jaw drop at the spectacle before them.

"Dave, what in the world have you made?" All Might muttered.

"I had no idea he created something so powerful" Melissa stared with eyes full of shock and awe.

"Now, I think I know the best way to raise the price of this device…I can charge whatever I want if it was used to _kill _the World's Number One Hero!"

Midoriya was able to snatch Melissa from the air as All Might faced the onslaught of attacks headed his way. Toru could only watch as the Pro seemed to reach his limit and still the villain continued to up his attack. _Just what has that device done to him?!_

"Why won't you just DIE ALREADY?!" The villain bellowed sending another wave of attacks forward. Jumping up into the air, Toru had to weave her way through the pillars as if she were dancing. _Thank you Nejire!_

"ALL MIGHT!" Midoriya shouted as the wave crept closer and closer to the hero. Thankfully a wave of ice intercepted the pillars before they could hit, freezing them in place.

"Todoroki…" Toru happily gasped as Bakugou also made his grand entrance; if a little louder.

"GO TO HELL!" Bakugou screeched as he fired an explosion towards the villain. "HOW CAN YOU LET YOURSELF GET BEAT BY SUCH A LAME FINAL BOSS?!" He winced as his hand cramped up from overuse of his Quirk, "HURRY AND TAKE HIM DOWN?!"

"Everyone…!" Toru alighted next to the others as they emerged from the tower. Yaoyorozu and Kaminari were propped over shoulders with expressions of exhaustion written across their features. Kirishima and Mineta were dragging their feet but seemed unharmed (save for a few bruises and scrapes). Kayano and Rio brought up the rear, both girls sporting makeshift weapons (Kayano with her taser and Rio with a lump of wood which she was holding like baseball bat).

"We'll do what we can" Todoroki called with both ice _and _fire emanating from his body, "We'll help you!"

"Iida, let's knock those hunks of metal out of the sky!" Kirishima called.

"Yaoyorozu, take care of things down here!" Iida instructed as the two boys shot off.

"Right" Yaoyorozu nodded.

"Toru" Kayano rushed over and pulled her friend into a hug, soon followed by Rio. "What's going on, Toru?"

"What _isn't _going on?" Toru retorted, "You see big bossman?"

"Yeah?" Rio and Kayano nodded.

"He's got a device that Melissa's father made for All Might, that s'posed to boost your Quirk far beyond its usual limits"

"Shit, really?" Rio gasped.

"That's not all"

"What else…?" Kayano asked hesitantly.

"He's got a vial of the _Antimatter Tentacle Serum"_

_"WHAT?!" _Kayano paled.

"HOW THE HELL DOES HE HAVE THAT?!" Rio exploded.

"Apparently the assistant—Sam—" Toru began.

"—The dead guy in the storage room?"

"Yeah, anyway, _somehow _he got a hold of it and it was the basis for their entire project. It's this whole thing"

"Shit"

"Yeah, pretty much"

Looking back towards All Might's fight (now joined by Midoriya, Todoroki, Iida, Bakugou and Kirishima), Toru watched as the Pro hero was basically pummelled into the ground. "…CAROLINA SMASH!" An explosion of light and debris exploded in front of their eyes, causing many to shield themselves against the onslaught. "PREPARE YOURSELF VILLAIN!" All Might called as he shot towards the center of the contraption where the villain sat, nestled. Only he never got that far, metal that moved like snakes and flowed like water sprung up from every which way, entrapping the hero like a fly in a spider's web.

"Prepare myself?" Crowed the villain as he reached out and grabbed All Might around the neck as his body burnt orange and molten, taking on a monstrous visage "Take your own advice! You've underestimated me!"

"RAAAAAAH!" All Might cried out in pain; nowhere to go and no means to fight back.

"ALL MIGHT!" Midoriya ran forth, only to drop to the ground clutching his shoulder in pain.

"DAMMIT!" Bakugou shouted as he soon became outmanoeuvred by the drones. Todoroki too, had to quickly dodge out of the way and soon enough a blanket of hopelessness seemed to descend.

"ALL MIGHT! NO!" Chorused the students as they watched blocks of metal slam together around the Pro like he was a magnet in a junkyard.

"FAREWELL SYMBOL OF PEACE!" Bellowed the villain as he skewered the clump of metal from all sides, for good measure.

UNCLE MIGHT! NOOOOOOO!" Wailed Melissa.

Time seemed to stand still as everyone stared at the skewered metal in front of them. All Might, the Number One Hero, Symbol of Peace: dead. Sure, Toru had stated earlier that he _was _only a man, that he could die just like everyone else…but to see it actually happen? She didn't think she would. All around her, her classmates were watching on with expressions of disbelief and fear—their teacher and top hero was just swatted like a fly, what chance did they have? From Mineta's pale shock to Ochako's never-ending tears and Bakugou's disbelief.

And a small, slightly cracked glass vial fill with viscous liquid glistened in Kayano's hand. "Kayano…" Toru breathed, her eyes glistening with tears as she watched her friend pop the cap on the vial.

"Kay…what are you doing?!" Rio demanded, hand snapping out to halt her wrist, "Do you not remember what happened last time?!"

"Of course I remember!" Kayano glared at the blonde.

"So why…?" Toru asked.

"Let's kill 'im" Wicked fire blazed in her eyes. "I wanna kill 'im!"

"Rio?" Toru turned to the blonde who had been studying Kayano's face like she was mining for gold.

"…We're getting ice cream after" Rio replied childishly and yet completely serious.

"Done" Kayano agreed.

"Rio, if we get ugly, can you get the Professor?" Toru asked.

"Right, we'll follow your lead, Toru" Rio nodded as both girls backed away from the actress, taking the surrounding students with them.

"T-Toru?" Ochako sniffed as she and a slightly delirious Kaminari were herded away from Kayano, "What's going on?"

Toru didn't reply, but she watched on with a grim expression as Kayano took a deep breath and knocked back the serum in one go. Swallowing down the vile concoction, she only had to wait a moment for Kayano to bend at the waist as her body gagged and retched, trying to expel the serum. Her eyes burnt black and her skin bulged like she was about to explode from the inside out. Her lips bled from the force at which she was biting them, trying her best to keep the screams in. Soon enough, Kayano grew still; her head bowed and body stone still. Toru watched as her lips mouthed a reply to something she couldn't hear and then suddenly from the nape of her neck burst two elastic-like tentacles that propped her up into the air.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Mineta cried scrambling backwards from the nightmarish scene before them. Eyes snapped open and locked onto Toru, waiting for the command.

"Kay! Rio! With me!" Toru commanded as she shot off towards the villain with Rio's hand in hers. Flying straight towards the structure, Toru slingshotted Rio towards one of the pillars connecting to the main structure, leaving the blonde to make her own way in. Dodging out of the way, she and Kayano headed further towards the center.

As they passed over the clump of metal holding All Might (with Toru flying and Kayano using the tentacles to swing the distance), Toru noticed a flash of green lightning pierce through. Midoriya smashed through the metal like it was made of clay, landing a little further ways away with All Might who somehow seemed to be alive. _How the hell is he still alive?!_

"Wait! This guy's grabbing stuff from the tower, right?" Toru spitballed. Kayano simply looked at her with those blackened eyes, but she wasn't attacking _her, _so Toru took it as a sign. "RITSU!" She screamed at Rio, "JAM HIM!"

Though she received no reply from the blonde, the song that was soon blasted from every speaker in the structure was answer enough. Toru laughed jovially at the tune that surrounded them, recognising the song as one from the _Badass Bitch _playlist.

_If all of the kings had their queens on the throne  
_ _We would pop champagne and raise a toast  
_ _To all of the queens who are fighting alone  
_ _Baby, you're not dancing on your own!_

"There's_ no way _you can stop me!" The villain crowed, slumped over and clutching his ears as he was "You're insignificant brats! AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHEN TO LIE DOWN AND BE CRUSHED!" This time Toru gripped tight to Kayano's hand as the actress zipped through the falling rubble like it was child's play.

_Can't live without me, you wanna but you can't, no, no, no  
_ _Think it's funny, but honey, can't run this show on your own  
_ _I can feel my body shake, there's only so much I can take  
_ _I'll show you how a real queen behaves, oh!_

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW DEFEAT!" Bakugou roared as he lit the metallic assailants up in a fiery explosion that was propelled from both fists.

"I WON'T LET YOU STOP THEM!" Todoroki added as he shot large shards of ice up towards the raging pillars.

"GO BEYOND!" All Might ran forth with Midoriya on his heels.

"PLUS ULTRA!" Midoriya ended as the two heroes punched their way through the pillars and clumps; effectively distracting the villain from the three girls who pursued him.

_No damsel in distress, don't need to save me  
_ _Once I start breathin' fire, you can't tame me  
_ _And you might think I'm weak without a sword  
_ _But if I had one, it'd be bigger than yours!_

"THIS IS OVER!" Roared the villain as he sent another wave of pillars towards the heroes. All around them, explosions lit the landscape like fireworks at a festival. Shockwave after shockwave melted into each other as everyone put their all into stopping the villain, pushing their bodies passed their limits.

_If all of the kings had their queens on the throne  
_ _We would pop champagne and raise a toast  
_ _To all of the queens who are fighting alone  
_ _Baby, you're not dancing on your own!_

Toru glanced down through the wreckage to see Rio jumping back through the metallic landscape with the Professor slung over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She couldn't see how injured they were at the speed they were going, she was just glad that the blonde had been able to extract the scientist from the machine, before shit _really_ hit the fan.

_Disobey me, then baby, it's off with your head  
_ _Gonna change it and make it a world you won't forget  
_ _No damsel in distress, don't need to save me  
_ _Once I start breathin' fire, you can't tame me  
_ _And you might think I'm weak, without a sword  
_ _But I'm stronger than I ever was before!_

"HNN!" Grunted the villain as he raised his hands above his head and began to form some kind of giant cube above him. One that was much larger than the previous ones, and smoother too. Whatever he was planning to do with was not going to be good.

"Kay, drop me" Toru ordered when they came within reaching distance of the villain, "I'm going 'round back" The invisible girl floated for a moment or two next to her friend

"Let's burn this bastard!" Kayano grinned manically.

"GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!" Toru called over her shoulder as she flew around to the opposite of the machine.

_If all of the kings had their queens on the throne  
_ _We would pop champagne and raise a toast  
_ _To all of the queens who are fighting alone  
_ _Baby, you're not dancing on your own!_

Illuminated by the rising sun, Toru spread her arms outwards and began to soak up as much of the early rays as she could. Down below, she watched Kayano take on the villain.

"YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE! I'M GONNA BRING DOWN THIS ENTIRE TOWER!" He roared, sending the large cube straight towards Kayano. Dodging out of the way was child's play for the actress, but this time she met the smooth cube head on.

Flinging herself upwards at an unearthly rate, the young actress began to spin with the fiery tentacles out in front of her, effectively turning herself into a flaming torpedo.

At first the cube only seemed to bend under her attack, but soon enough it gave way. Like bursting a water balloon, Kayano shot through the cube leaving its remains to scatter amongst the other rubble decorating the landscape. The fiery explosion thereafter, would've made Bakugou proud. "GO TORU!" She shouted as she began to fall, catching herself before she went splat.

_In chess the king can move one space at a time  
_ _But queens are free to go wherever they like  
_ _You get too close, you'll get a royalty high  
_ _So breathe it in to feel the love!_

Up above them all, Toru seemed to have reached her limit. Light blanketed her form in such thickness that she seemed to be almost made of it. Eyes snapped open and locked onto her target beneath her. Snapping her arms above her head like a swimmer, Toru dove head first towards the metallic structure like a shooting star.

Any rubble or debris that was floating around her burnt up upon reentry and she shook off their melted pieces as she drew nearer and nearer. Taking a page from Kayano's book, she began to spin, gaining momentum as she went until the heat surrounding her wasn't just of her own making.

_If all of the kings had their queens on the throne  
_ _We would pop champagne and raise a toast  
_ _To all of the queens who are fighting alone  
_ _Baby, you're not dancing on your own! Oh!_

"RAAAAH!" Toru bellowed. Piercing through the many layers that tried to defend its rear like they were made of butter, she shot through the center of the structure and grabbed a fistful of fabric as she passed. There was no stopping her as she grabbed the enraged—and now burning—villain, nor was there any stopping them as she kept going, unable to stop, unable to land or pull up. Toru simply closed her eyes and tried to prepare herself for the inevitable crash landing.

** _BOOM! CRASH!_ **

The almighty sound the reverberated across the landscape pounded in her ears as the pair eventually came to a smokey stop in a large crater that tore through the earth. Toru felt her heart hammer in her chest as she wheezed in great big gulping breaths of sweet, sweet air. A trickle of blood flowed down her forehead from where she had cut it upon piercing the armour of the villain, the sounds of scrabbling, hurried footsteps sounded close and several blurry figures appeared in her sights and many of their voices slurred together in her hazy brain.

"Toru!"

"Hagakure!"

"Young Hagakure!"

"Are you alright?"

"Say something!"

"Toru!"

"Worst…Landing.…Ever" Toru wheezed as she blinked rapidly, recognising Rio and All Might next to her in the crater and her other classmates crowded along the ridge.

"That was exemplary, young Hagakure!" All Might praised as he helped her sit up and slung a blazer over her shoulders (Iida's if the blue was anything to go by).

"You idiot!" Rio softly whacked her on the shoulder, "What the _hell_ were you thinking?"

"Don't…hit Kay?" Toru panted sheepishly as she slipped her arms through the sleeves and pulled the front closed.

"KAY!" Both girls chorused as realisation lit up in their eyes and they scrambled from the crater. Rio moved first, using a rather startled All Might as a springboard to push herself up into the air and tackle the two-toned actress from her perch. Toru was a little slower in her ascent, but eventually (and with a little help) she was able to exit the crater and rushed over to help Rio pin her friend down.

"Uh, how are we going to do this?" Toru asked kneeling on the left hand side of Kayano's back as she tried to throw them off.

"I've got this" Rio flicked open a pocket knife that she pulled from seemingly thin air.

"Where were you hiding _that?"_

"In my hair"

"Of _course, _why not?"

"Quit being sassy and help me!"

"Right, right, sorry" Switching so that she was straddling Kayano, Toru leant forth and braced her friend's head between her hands, allowing Rio to perform makeshift surgery.

"Stop! STOP! I WANT IT! THEY'RE MINE! YOU CAN'T HAVE THEM!" Kayano—or the tentacles— cried.

"Stop it!" Rio hissed, "No you don't! This is the tentacles talking!"

"G'OFF!"

"You think we should—mngh!—knock her out?" Toru asked Rio.

"Could make it worse, 'sides I'm almost…" Rio shook her head. "…Done"

Pulling out the Antimatter Tentacles made Toru squirm like she was watching her friend get a tapeworm removed—which in all essence was that far off. Turning her head away from the slithery thing in Rio's hands, she stifled a gag as the last of the tentacles was removed. "Right, hold still" Rio instructed as she then proceeded to remove the miniature sewing kit (also from her hair, for some reason) and stitched up the thin cut on Kayano's nape. Thankfully Kayano had fallen still once the tentacles were removed, allowing the girls to fix her up without too much issue.

Once the stitches were covered with a flowery band-aid, Toru removed herself from Kayano's back and sat beside her to see how she was. _The last time this happened, it nearly killed her! _Toru worried as she was handed the tentacle remnants and instructed to burn them, _I hope this worked!_

Hands snaked out to help the actress sit up when she began to stir. Rio and Toru shared a glance in anticipation as they waited to see if they had killed their friend or not; sluggish hands rose to scrub at tired eyes and a jaw-cracking yawn echoed throughout the three girls. But Kayano seemed to be alright, nonetheless.

"Stop that! You're gonna make…me…yawn!" Rio laughed, ending with a yawn at the end.

"DEKU! MELISSA!" Called Ochako, catching the girls' attention. As one they turned to see Toru's classmates waving their hands wildly and jumping up and down, trying to get their attention.

"HOW ARE THE OTHERS?!" Iida called.

"WE'RE FINE UP HERE!" Midoriya called back from the next ridge over. "ALL MIGHT & THE PROFESSOR ARE OKAY TOO!"

"WHAT ABOUT HAGAKURE?"

"I'M OKAY!" Toru called back through cupped hands, drawing attention over to them, waving back as they did so.

"WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF YOU GUYS?" Melissa shouted next.

"WE'RE GOOD!" Ochako replied.

"ALIVE ANYWAY!" Iida amended. Another round of yawns rippled through the trio of girls as Rio turned to face them, her face completely serious. "Can we get that ice cream_ now?"_


	37. Rule #26a

** _Rule #26a: Frustration of defeat equals greater growth_ **

With the first week of the summer holidays dedicated to the I-Expo excursion and the last two weeks dedicated to the training camp, the second week was left alone for the students to do as they pleased. Dance classes had been placed on hold for the time being, but each of the students within the class had been told to practise as much as possible over the break as they could, anyway—Oishii had been particularly put out that he hadn't been able to attend the expo, but had made Toru promise to bring him back a souvenir.

Anyway, so it was that the girls decided to hire out the school pool; as it turned out, the boys had a similar idea. _Three guesses who thought of it and three guesses who bungled it up. _Toru thought as she watched from afar as Kaminari and Mineta wept crocodile tears at the poolside. Undoubtedly, the pair must've assumed that the girls would've been in their bikinis and variations thereupon; but it was not to be. With just enough fat on her figure to be labelled as _'squishy'_ Toru fit nicely into the navy school swimsuit; accented by blocks of white and red down the sides of the almost wetsuit-like style.

The impromptu pool party had been a good idea (one that had been suggested during the last week of school when the girls were discussing what they would be doing over summer break) and a nice change from the excitement of the school year and the events at the I-Expo, from the week previous. Following the defeat of the boss villain, the students had been treated to barbecue and ice cream by the Symbol of Peace. Of course, a fair amount of paperwork had to be filled out—their reports of the incident and so on—as well as the press, which had hunted them like bloodhounds throughout the rest of their stay on the island.

Saying farewell to Kayano and Rio had been bittersweet, though the trio had agreed to meet up at some point just to hang out. And of course, there was still their reunion at their old mountaintop classroom at Kunugigaoka Junior High, which had been jointly purchased by the students of class 3-E and turned into a pseudo memorial for both of their fallen teachers, to look forward to.

"Oh hey! Hi, Mineta" Greeted Asui from down the line, where all of the girls were going through their array of warm-ups and stretches.

"I didn't know you guys would be here" Jiro commented. Toru smirked as she watched the pair of boys turn up the dramatics at having their plans foiled by the clueless do-gooders around them. On one side of the pool, the girls were gathered warming up before they got in, and on the other side sat the boys of 1-A as they waited for everyone to arrive for their 'endurance training'. With a fearsome Iida—cap and all—spearheading the boys' training session, the girls quickly set to work playing several games of water polo and monkey-in-the-middle.

Toru—who would never admit it—missed a couple of shots headed her way, due to hungry golden eyes that kept wandering over to the toned and dripping abs of their shirtless classmates, as she shamelessly drooled over them. _So many gorgeous muscles! _Toru drooled,_ Mm! Who knew how ripped our classmates were?! _Of course, she wasn't the only one; she could've sworn that Yaoyorozu and Ochako had spared a red-cheeked glance or two in the boys' direction as well (specifically towards Todoroki and Midoriya respectively).

"Get ready for it!" Ochako sang as she hit the beach ball up into the air, making Toru's attention snap back to the game at hand "Serve!"

"Mine!" Mina cried as she leapt from the water like a dolphin to hit the ball.

"Ribbit!" Asui croaked, whipping her tongue against the plastic ball in a very frog-like manner and back out into the open water.

"Nn!" Jiro grunted, using her earjacks to effortlessly smack it back.

"Got it!" Toru dived for the ball, letting it bounce harmlessly off of her back and off towards the left as she all but bellyflopped into the water.

"Set!" Yaoyorozu chirped, jumping from the water to perform a perfect set. Laughter spilled from the girls' lips as joyfully they hit the beach ball back and forth, trying their best to keep it in the pool. Occasionally, a pool lane would get in the way or one of the girls would sink below the water before shooting up like a flying fish to catch the ball. Sometimes underhanded tricks were doled out when they ducked under the water and try to yank another girl under with them, or when someone splashed water into their faces. In the end, all their well-thought out games just turned into playful wrestling and splash fights as they tossed the ball back and forth like the kids they were.

"What's going on over there?" This time, Ochako caught the ball headed her way as she looked over to where the boys were taking a break.

"I dunno" Toru shrugged. Seating herself on top of the pool lane next to Mina (which sank a little with her added weight), the invisible girl slowly kicked her feet under the water and turned to watch the scenario play out alongside the other girls.

"…You'd better!" Bakugou snarled, sporting his typical scowl as he stalked forward towards an unassuming Midoriya and Iida, with Kirishima on his heels who trying his best to placate him. It didn't appear to be working. "The next time I beat you, I want you to be at your strongest, _you damn nerd!"_

"Kaachan!" Midoriya blanched at the snarling blonde who was steadily approaching.

"Hey! I got your message!" Kirishima danced around to the front of Bakugo and swung an arm out, stopping him from going any further, "Sorry I'm late! Took a while to convince Bakugou come out"

"So Deku—" Bakugou's fists lit up with miniature explosions that crackled and popped in time with his threat, "—You wanna settle who's the best between us, right now?! _Huh?!"_

"No!" Midoriya panicked, nervously waving his hands in front of his face as if he was trying to swat a fly "That's not it!"

"Hm, actually, y'know what?" Iida hummed in thought, "We could make this training a contest"

"Heh?" Midoriya glanced towards Iida in fear as he realised what was about to happen.

"Hey everyone!" Iida called out to the rest of the boys, "I propose we see which of the boys can swim 50m the fastest!"

"Do you think we should help them?" Ochako tilted her head in question at the announcement.

"Who knows? It could be fun!" Yaoyorozu agreed.

"Alright! Let's go!" Mina cheered as the gaggle of girls swam to the edge and emerged from the water, shaking off any excess droplets from their hair and face as they did so.

"A friendly race!" Iida called as the girls trotted closer.

"Yeah!" Kaminari cheered.

"That sounds fun!" Sero agreed, rising to his feet.

"Iida! Why don't you let us help you out with this?" Yaoyorozu offered, the girls either side of her wearing matching grins as they surveyed the boys before them.

"Yes, please" Iida accepted.

"And Quirks?" Ojiro asked, "Can we use them?"

"We're at school, so there shouldn't be a problem with that" Iida replied, ignoring Bakugou's toothy grin, "However, we can't cause damage to our classmates or the building"

As Iida set down the ground rules, Bakugou shook of Kirishima's grip and stalked forwards towards Midoriya who met him head on. "I'm gonna _annihilate _you, Deku!" Bakugou decreed with fists clenched at his sides. "And you too, Icy-hot, you bastard!" He shot over his shoulder towards Todoroki who was relaxing off to the side with a soda can gripped loosely in his fist, frost slowly gathering on the orange aluminium. Todoroki merely acknowledged the threat with a small nod of his head before the first race of boys gathered themselves at one end of the pool.

Yaoyorozu produced a silver whistle which she hung around her neck as she stood next to the boys lining up at one end of the pool. The rest of the girls found themselves scattered along the sides of the pool and towards the end, acting as judges for the races. The rest of the boys were lined up next to Yaoyorozu as they waited for their turns.

"Alright! Everyone on your marks!" Yaoyorozu warned, making Mineta, Tokoyami, Koda, Bakugou and Kaminari fall into diving positions up on the starting blocks. "Get set!" _TWEET! _At the sound of the whistle, the boys exploded from the starting blocks and dove into the pool, all intent on winning the impromptu competition—all except for Bakugou, that is. Instead of diving into the water as his opponents had done, Bakugou propelled himself across the water with a series of explosion that landed him in first place at the other end of the pool.

"HOW WAS THAT, YOU SIDE KICKS?!" Bakugou crowed as he spun around to face his classmates.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Sero demanded, outraged.

"YOU DIDN'T EVEN TOUCH THE WATER!" Kirishima tacked on.

"IT'S CALLED FREESTYLE SWIMMING!" Bakugou snapped back, small explosions igniting his palms.

"We should've known something like this would happen" Ochako sighed, watching the blonde predictably explode at the accusations thrown his way.

"He's not exactly one for following the rules, ribbit" Asui agreed.

Next up was Sero, Aoyama, Todoroki, Sato and Kirishima. Just as the previous racers had done, the boys fell into diving positions at Yaoyorozu's call, but as soon as the whistle sounded they exploded off of the starting blocks and used their Quirks to their fullest advantage, some barely even scraping the water. Sero launched a length of tape towards the boundary chainlink fence that surrounded the pool, making Mina duck out of the way. Aoyama, used his bellybutton laser to propel himself at least halfway across the pool before his stomach cramped up and he collapsed into Sero; sending the two flying into the water below. Kirishima swam like no tomorrow, and Todoroki cooly skated across the water's surface like a surfer on steroids as he left a trail of ice in his wake. Jumping from the ice, he landed on the concrete at the other end of the pool, much to Kaminari and Mineta's ire.

"Last group, on your marks!" Yaoyorozu called as Iida, Midoriya, Ojiro and Shoji took their positions atop the starting blocks. "Get set!" _TWEET! _This time almost all of the racers took to the water. Iida, zoomed along the pool lane with arms out wide and engines purring as Ojiro dove beneath the water, using his tail as a propeller. Shoji transformed all of his arms into extra hands to push himself through the water, like an odd sort of duck and Midoriya ignited himself in green lighting and augmented his muscles, increasing his strength and in turn, his strokes. It ended up being a close call between Midoriya and Iida, however the green-haired boy easily overtook the engine hero and slapped his hand against the pool's edge mere seconds before his friend could.

"You bet me" Iida was pulled from the water by the shorter boy, "Good work"

"You were _amazing _out there too, Iida!" Midoriya praised.

"Midoriya…" Todoroki mumbled as he watched the interaction with hawk-like eyes as his thoughts turned to previous interactions during the Sports Festival and the Stain incident that showed him who the green-haired boy really was, and his own powers too. Breaking from his thoughts, he met both Midoriya and Iida's gazes, the three of them seemingly sharing the same thought.

_So dramatic! _Toru rolled her eyes as she licked at one of the citrus-flavoured popsicles that Yaoyorozu had bought with her earlier, mixed in with the slowly melting ice contained with the chilly bin and the islands of fruity sodas. Next to her, Mina was sucking at a juicy red raspberry one that was staining her lips like badly-applied lipstick.

"Alright!" Iida clapped his hands, garnering everyone's attention. "It's time for the final race. Bakugou, Todoroki, Midoriya: as winners of each heat, you'll fight for first place. Understand?"

"Yes" Todoroki nodded.

"Got it!" Said Midoriya.

"Listen up, Scarface!" Bakugou snarled, "Don't you _dare _hold back like you did at the Sports Festival! Bring everything you've got!"

"I will" Todoroki replied.

"You too! Fight to win!" Bakugou turned to Midoriya.

"Yeah" Midoriya nodded. "I will, I promise"

"They do know it's only a swimming race, right?" Ochako chuckled nervously at the dramatic and hot-blooded decrees.

"Ribbit" Asui croaked, neither answering nor dismissing the question, though she too, wondered if the boys were still aware of the fact.

"Then the 50m final race will now begin!" This time Iida stood with whistle in hand as their classmates cheered for each of the different swimmers.

"Blow 'em away, Bakugou!"

"Don't kill the other swimmers!"

"You got this, Todoroki!"

"Yeah! You can do it, Deku!"

"Woo!"

"Do your best everyone!"

"Now, on your marks" Iida raised his hand in the air as the racers took up their poisons atop the starting blocks, determination engraved into their faces. Explosions already littered Bakugou's palms, ice climbed up Todoroki's right arm in preparation and Midoriya sparkled green. "Get set…" _TWEET!_

Again, the racers exploded from the starting blocks like bats outta hell, only this time they seemed to pause in midair before all three bellyflopped into the water below; each of the sporting looks of confusion. "What happened?" Kaminari asked.

"Why aren't they using their Quirks?" Sero questioned.

"It's 5pm" Aizawa announced his presence, making the rest of the class turn to face him where he stood in the doorway with his Quirk activated. "Authorised pool time is officially over, hurry up and _go home"_

"C'me on! Just one second!" Kaminari whined.

"We were finally getting to the good part!" Complained Sero.

_"Are you questioning me?_" Aizawa glared.

"No, Sensei" The class chorused and they shuffled off to the changing rooms and out the door.


	38. Rule #8a

** _Rule #8a: Never assume, you'll make an ass outta you and me._ **

When the second week finally rolled around, Toru found herself standing on the curb, outside the school grounds early on Monday morning. The light cotton blouse and pleated school skirt did nothing to deter the early morning breeze and Toru bounced on her toes as she tried to warm up, rubbing her arms to rid herself of the goosebumps protruding there. She knew it would warm up later, but that did nothing to help her now.

All around her, her classmates were gathered in similar poses as they tried to conserve heat in the early morning. Some leant against their bags, whilst others bounced around in barely concealed excitement and anticipation for the upcoming camping trip. Of course it had been advertised as a training camp, but it was still a camp so many were expecting bugs and s'mores and ghosts stories told 'round bonfires despite what they had been told.

Currently, Aizawa stood in front of 1-A with his sleeping bag slung over his shoulders like a shawl as they gathered together like penguins and waited for him to address them. "…Don't think that these weeks will be ones of rest for you heroes-in-the-making. At this camp, we'll push you to go beyond your limits; you're aiming to become plus ultra"

"Yessir!" Chorused the class as they drifted off into little groups to chat and wait for the 1-B students to arrive as well.

"Ooh! I wonder if we'll get to do like survival training or something!" Toru gushed as she re-read the pamphlet for the umpteenth time.

"You're really looking forward to this, aren't you Toru? Ribbit" Asui tilted her head in question at the bouncing girl.

"Uh huh!" Toru beamed, bouncing up and down a little and making the cat ears on her beanie wiggle as she moved, "We did this stuff all the time during Junior High! It was _so _much fun! Ooh! I can't wait! I wonder if we'll do a test of courage?"

"Really? I never did anything like this Junior High" Yaoyorozu admitted a little worriedly, "I hope I don't get left behind…"

"You'll be fine, Momo" Toru assured her, "It'll be just like camping…you _have_ been camping before, right?"

"I've stayed in hotels _nearby _to campgrounds, does that count?" Momo replied.

"Uh, not—not quite…"

Just then Ochako—quite loudly—fled from her conversation with Midoriya, her face burnt pink as she started up a cheer for camp, drawing in a couple of their classmates. "Uh…Let's hear it for camp! Camp! Camp! Camp!"

"I HEARD SOME OF CLASS A ARE TAKING EXTRA COURSES!" Monoma suddenly declared his arrival and the arrival of his classmates in a rather overly dramatic and arrogant fashion. "DOES THAT MEAN THEY ACTUALLY _FAILED _THE FINAL EXAMS? HUH? THAT WOULD BE _SO _EMBARRASSING! ESPECIALLY SINCE YOU'RE S'POSED TO BE _SO _MUCH BETTER THAN MY CLASS! ALL OF YOU MUST BE WALLOWING IN SHAME—!"

"Does he have an off switch?" Toru mumbled as Kendo appeared behind the blonde and knocked him out with a well-placed chop to the back of the neck. "Oh, there it is"

"Don't mind him" Kendo apologised as she turned to haul the blonde drama queen onto their bus.

"Oh! The rest of Class B!" Midoriya noted as the rest of their peers arrived.

"Hey!"

"Nice to see ya outside of the Sports Festival!"

"I guess now, we're not _technically _rivals" Greeted a couple of the students.

"Time to get on the bus!" Kendo called, as she boarded dragging Monoma behind her.

"Okay!" Chorused 1-B as Mineta drooled over the swishing skirts that passed him by. Next to him, Kirishima appeared grossed out by the grape-haired hero's perverted antics.

"ATTENTION CLASS A!" Iida called out, outrageously waving his arms from in front of their bus, "OUR BUS IS HERE! EVERYONE LINE UP IN SEATING ORDER!"

Once all their bags and gear had been tucked away in the compartments of the bus' undercarriage, the rowdy teens slotted themselves into their assigned seats, only a little annoyed at Iida's constant pestering. Seated behind Aizawa, Toru and Mina (her seat partner) were able to hear everything that their teacher was saying as they began to play a game of cards, although the same could not be said for the rest of their chattering classmates. "All right, here's the deal" Aizawa addressed his rowdy students as the bus puttered down the road, "We'll be on this bus for about an hour before our first stop, make sure you stay focused…" When he turned around to find no one was paying him any attention , the teacher simply slouched into his seat and snuggled down, attempting to sleep for the hour they were on the bus. "Eurgh! Why do I bother? I s'pose this is the only time they'll get to fool around…problem children"

* * *

An hour or so later, the class had dismounted from the bus with a few of the passengers looking a little pale from all the windy roads, whilst others simply stretched and popped their limbs, relishing in the relief it gave them. "Mm! Ah!" Toru sighed happily as she stretched. Now devoid of her beanie, the invisible girl stood amongst her classmates as she breathed in the fresh mountain air with an unremovable smile spread across her face. _It feels just like home!_

_"Gotta pee! Gotta pee!"_ Mineta chanted as he rushed around trying to find somewhere to relieve himself.

"This isn't much of rest stop" Kirishima noted, looking around at the dirt patch that was fenced off from the forest below. A single black car was the only other vehicle that shared the spot with them.

"I know" Jiro agreed, "And where's Class B?"

"You don't think we stopped here, just so you could stretch your legs, do you?" Drawled Aizawa.

"Huh?"

_"Please_ sir, the toilet…!" Mineta whined, holding his crotch like it was the last defence against the floodgates spilling open. Just then, the doors to the black car swung open and out burst two women and a kid.

"Heya, Eraser!" Called one of the feline women.

"Long time, no see" Aizawa bowed in greeting as the women introduced themselves. Toru recognised them as Mandalay and Pixie Bob—two of the four members of the feline Pro hero group. A quick glance towards the black car from which they had emerged, revealed the bored face of a young boy. _Who's he? _Toru's attention soon turned towards the feline heroines, however.

"You're feline fantasies are here! Say meow!" Mandalay began.

"Purrfectly cute and catlike girls!" Pixie Bob continued, "You can call us the Wild, Wild Pussycats!"

"Er…" 1-A stared at the poised women with wide eyes and disbelieving gazes, not quite sure what they were seeing.

"These are the heroes you'll be working with at the summer training camp" Aizawa lectured. Of course, that was all Midoriya needed to start fanboying over the pair. Gushing his praises he was eventually cut off by the blonde who reprimanded the teen, telling him she was actually 18 years old. "Everyone, say hello"

"Hello!" Chorused 1-A, "Nice to meet you!"

"We own this whole stretch of land out here, everything you can see" Mandalay pointed off into the distance, "The summer camp you're staying at is there, at the base of the mountain"

"Uh, then why did we stop all the way up here instead?" Questioned Ochako.

"I'm afraid we both know the answer to that, ribbit" Asui replied.

"That can't be right…" Sato denied.

"Hehe, um, back on the bus, quick let's go…" Sero mumbled nervously.

"Good idea" Agreed Kaminari, following after the tape hero, "L-load up!"

_"Ah!_ Are we doing survival training?!" Toru asked bouncing up and down excitedly with her arms up in the air; she was the only student to do so. Mandalay merely smirked, her tail swishing back and forth as she smugly replied.

"The current time is 9.30am, if you're fast about it you might make it there by noon" Mandalay stated.

"No way! Guys—!" Kirishima stumbled back a step or two.

"Holy crap!" Mina cried out.

"—SAVE YOURSELVES!" Kirishima bellowed as everyone turned and fled, everyone that is except for Toru who was practically buzzing with excitement.

"Kitties who don't make it there by noon won't get any lu~nch!" Mandalay sang.

"You should've guessed students, the training camp has already begun" Aizawa scolded, eyes glinting evilly in the morning sun. Whilst the others retreated towards the bus, Toru merely spared a glance and wickedly gleaming grin towards the feline heroes before she sprinted towards the wooden fence overlooking the canopy.

Bypassing a slightly startled trio of Pros, Toru laughed easy and carefree. "LAST ONE THERE'S A ROTTEN EGG!" She laughed, easily jumping the fence and launching herself off of the cliff without a care in the world, even throwing in a flip for good measure.

"TORU!" Ochako panicked when she looked back in time to see her friend disappear over the side. Rushing back over to the fence, Ochako stared down afraid of what she would find. Instead of the broken body she thought would be hanging amongst the trees, she found Toru happily leaping from outcropping to outcropping like she was playing hopscotch.

"WHAT ARE YA WAITING FOR?!" Toru called over her shoulder.

"YOU'RE CRAZY, HAGAKURE!" Kirishima shouted down, having joined the gravity girl alongside a couple of others.

"C'ME ON SLOWPOKES!" Toru's laughter travelled back up to them.

"She's insane!" Mineta breathed, eyes blown wide at what just happened and still holding tight to his bursting bladder. With the students a little preoccupied, Pixie Bob slammed a paw to the floor and liquified the earth beneath their feet. The earth surged and rolled, sending the rest of the class over the edge in a less than dignified manner. Screams followed them all the way down, until they landed in a groaning pile at the bottom of the cliff.

"Have a nice trip?" Toru grinned landing a little more gracefully next to her classmates, and holding out a hand to pull Mina to her feet.

"Oh shut _up, _Toru!" Mina playfully shoved the invisible girl once she was her feet once more.

"Don't _ever _do that again!" Ochako interjected, jumping to her feet and shaking the girl like a ragdoll, "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"I make no promises" Toru grinned.

"GOOD NEWS!" Mandalay called down, "SINCE THIS IS PRIVATE LAND YOU CAN USE YOUR QUIRKS AS MUCH AS YOU WANT TO! YOU'VE GOT THREE FULL HOURS! YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE IT TO THE FACILITY IN THAT TIME…THAT IS IF YOU CAN GET THROUGH THE BEASTS' FOREST!"

"THE BEASTS' FOREST?!" Midoriya exclaimed.

"That sounds like a name right outta a fantasy game!" Complained Kaminari as the class turned to stare up at the gigantic trees towering over them.

"Why do we keep falling for Sensei's little tricks?" Jiro whined.

"I guess there's no use complaining" Kirishima muttered as he rose to his feet and turned to see Ochako furiously shaking Toru, who seemed unperturbed by their situation. "Hagakure! Why'd you jump off the cliff?"

"It was the fastest way down" Toru replied nonchalantly even as she was shaken. " 'Sides, you guys came down too"

"Yeah, but not willingly" Kaminari muttered, brushing dirt off of his shirt.

"Might as well get going, then" Kirishima sighed as Toru slipped from Ochako's grip and danced towards the eerie forest.

"Well c'me on, then" Toru turned to her classmates who still stood at the base of the cliff, "Let's go!"

Without another word, she disappeared into the dark woods, hopping from root to root like she was playing a game. She hadn't made it very far before Mineta zoomed passed intent on finding somewhere to pee. Bushes rustled and the scent of urine permeated as the small boy hurried to relieve himself. "Well, are you guys coming or not?" She called through cupped hands. Toru hadn't gone very far, maybe a few steps, but the tall leafy trees easily blocked her view of the cliff. Whens she received a reply, it was not from her classmates, nor was it one she had expected.

A large shadow stood over her and she could hear worried calls come from her classmates. Slowly turning around, she was met with a large dirt-coloured beast that either hadn't noticed her (she hoped) or was too focused on her classmates. "Well, hello" Toru softly greeted as she heard Koda try to communicate with it, "Aren't you just the sweetest little thing?"

"PLEASE CALM YOURSELF, MY GIANT FRIEND!" Koda ran forth, practically screaming at the creature, though his voice reached no louder than a shout, "YOU DON'T WANNA HURT THEM!"

"…Please don't eat me" Toru murmured, her eyes blown wide as the enormous monster raised a clawed limb to bring down upon her. It wasn't quite fear that coursed through her, more like the acknowledgement of a larger predator. "Time to move" Toru squeaked as the fist grew closer and the sound of unnatural buzzing echoed in her ears.

Jumping up, she latched herself onto a piece of outcropping armour that protruded from its knees and pulled herself upwards, easily scaling the monster in a matter of mere moments. Moving like an ant up a wall, Toru made her way towards the back of the beast and sat herself down near its head. Once she was situated atop the beast, she found pulled her hands back to see that they were covered in red dust, which was odd. _Dust? Is this…_ Raising a palm to her mouth, she licked a line of the dust from her hand as she tried to decipher what her hands were coated in.

_Is this…? It is! It's dirt! Wait! Does this mean this guy is made of dirt? Can't be…dirt's not durable enough, mud maybe? No, too dry…so clay? Some kind of earth anyway. _She shook her head, clearing the train of thought from her mind. "Y'know, if we had some rope or something, we could probably ride you to camp" She petted the beast beneath her like she would a horse, only her internal monologue was soon cut short by the appearance of her classmates, who didn't appear to realise she was there.

"Eek!" Toru squeaked as she jumped to her feet and launched herself up into the canopy just in time to miss Midoriya, Iida, Bakugou and Todoroki's incoming attack. The hetrochromatic teen sent a trail of ice towards the dirt creature that froze it in place, Iida moved next launching an engine-powered kick towards one arm whilst Bakugou took out the other. When all three were clear of the creature, Midoriya emerged to finish it off, encased in green light, the boy landed a powerful punch which completely obliterated it.

"Okay, new plan" Toru clapped her hands together from where she hung upside down from one of the trees, her legs curled around one of its branches like she was on the monkey bars.

"Wow! You guys took that beast down in seconds!" Sato praised, as the rest of 1-A joined the others in the forest.

"That was awesome!" Sero agreed as Mineta stumbled out of the bushes looking both highly embarrassed and relieved.

"You sure showed that thing who's boss!" Kirishima complimented. Just then, Toru spotted another one of the creatures off in the distance, although it was rapidly coming closer. Sticking her thumb and forefinger in her mouth, the invisible girl let out a loud whistle which startled her classmates from their conversation.

"Wha—what was that?!" Midoriya spun around, trying to dine the source of the noise.

"OI!" Toru called down through cupped hands.

"Toru?" Yaoyorozu shielded her eyes as she peered up into the canopy where her classmate was hanging.

"WE'RE NOT DONE! THERE'S MORE INCOMING!" Toru pointed towards the beasts before free falling from the trees and landing with a roll next to Asui who jumped a little at her sudden arrival.

"Aw! Hey! C'me on!" Kaminari whined as they became surrounded by numerous creatures, "Don't you think this is just a little unfair?"

"What now? Do we run?" Mina questioned.

"Not good. If we don't make it to the camp fast enough, then we won't get anything to eat!" Sato complained, eyeing up one of the spindly ones.

"Well, then what's the plan?" Kirishima asked.

"It's not just the earth creatures we need to worry about…although, smaller targets are harder to hit" Toru thought aloud, "We need to split up, form small groups—pair off"

"And what makes you so sure?" Bakugou snapped, "Who put _you _in charge anyway?!"

"Well let's see, there's the wildlife, the plant life, the idiotic notion that you believe you rule nature when it's in fact the other way around, cliff drops, weak tree limbs…Oh! And let's not forget the sky-high robots hellbent on hunting us!" Sassed Toru. "And as for who put me in charge? Well, why don't you ask Rio?"

"Grr!" Bakugou snarled but made no more move to complain. Taking the win, Toru turned to the rest of the class."Alright, who here has been camping before?" She questioned. Ochako, Asui and Koda hesitantly raised their hands. "And who knows their plants?" This time, Momo, Tokoyami and Sato raised their hands. "Alright, good, good. Find one of these people and stick with them. Then maybe we'll al get outta here in one piece"

"She's right!" Declared Yaoyorozu, "We have no choice but to cut through these woods with the shortest possible route!"

"Ribbit!" Croaked Asui.

"All right, LET'S GO, CLASS A!" Iida cried.

"YEAH!" Crowed the class.

* * *

Working in tandem with Aoyama, Tokoyami and Kaminari, Toru was able to mow down several of the earthly beasts that came their way. Wiping away the sweat that beaded on her brow, Toru hung out of a tree as she paused for a moment to watch Aoyama skewer a beast with his navel laser alongside the followup provided by Tokoyami's dark shadow. They had been going for a while now, the sun having climbed higher in the sky and their time limit drawing dangerously close.

At some point the group had been separated from the others, somewhere around mid-morning, not long after they had passed by a line of melnut trees, the fruit on which she was munching on right then. It was a rather odd fruit, with a hard outer casing and squishy fruit inside—like a cross between a coconut and a melon. _Y'know, _Toru slurped at the sweet juices in thought as a dazed Kaminari sat next to her munching on an apple with his legs swinging, _It's kinda like a sea urchin—hard outer shell, soft squishy, oogly-thing on the inside. But it tastes soo good! Mm!_

_Uh oh! _Toru quickly swallowed her current mouthful as she caught sight of yet another creature emerging from the treeline beyond the pair of boys. "DUCK!"

"I AM _NOT_ A DUCK!" Dark shadow snarled, quickly twisting above Tokoyami's head towards her just as her classmate took her advice and dropped to the forest floor, only barely missing the beast's clubbed tail by mere centimetres. Toru face palmed at the response and dragged her hand down her face in an over-exaggerated motion.

"I didn't mean it like that…" Toru drawled as she dropped from the tree and chucked the melnut shell over her shoulder. Coughing and waving away the dust cloud that accompanied the beast's attack, Toru made her way over to Aoyama and Tokoyami who lay on the forest floor to help them up.

"Merci, ma cherie" Aoyama thanked her, brushing off the dirt from his pants as he did so.

"Are you, al-al—" Toru stuttered as she tried to cut off the sneeze that was building up in her nostrils. Helping Tokoyami to his feet, she had all but a few seconds before the sneeze ripped itself free. "—_Achoo!" _The kitten sneeze was accompanied by a quick succession of little ticks with her Quirk; first she became ignited in blinding light, which quickly dissipated to lightning dancing across her form, before ending in two beams of light that fired from her eyes in much the same manner that Aoyama's did.

At the sneeze, Tokoyami, quickly dropped her hand and the blonde Frenchman in question quickly launched himself to the floor once more, only just missing the light that sailed over him and skewered the approaching beast right through the head and out the other end. "Bless you" Tokoyami murmured, his eyes wide as the earthen beast fell at their feet.

"Th-thank you" Toru sniffed, her own eyes equally wide.

* * *

Dusk was beginning to fall when all the students of 1-A emerged onto the campgrounds, tired and hungry. "You said it would take, like, only three hours!" Sero whined, speaking the group's mind as they all but collapsed at their tutors' feet. Toru and her group had regathered with the others not far from the campgrounds, having taken a seemingly wrong turn near a path of wild berries.

"I guess we timed it based on how long it take _us, _sorry" Mandalay replied.

"Now you're bragging about how much better you are?" Sato complained. "That's so mean!"

"Well, they _are _Pros" Toru replied, laying like a starfish on the ground. Sure it hadn't been a Karasuma-Sensei or Koro-Sensei exercise, but that didn't mean she wasn't tired—she just wasn't as exhausted as her classmates.

"I'm _starving! _This is hell!" Kirishima howled, gripping to his stomach like a dying man.

"Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow!" Pixie Bob praised, "I thought it would take you kits _even longer! _But you did _much better_ against my dirt monsters than I thought you would! You guys are seriously great! Especially…the four of you!"

Propping herself up onto her elbows, Toru saw that Pixie Bob was pointing to Iida, Midoriya, Todoroki and Bakugou who appeared confused by her declaration. "It seems like you've had _quite _a bit of experience!" _Is she…licking her lips? _Toru puzzled. Just then Pixie Bob launched forth and began to pepper her classmates with over-enthusiastic pets and cuddles. _Uh…What?_

"…Uh, speaking of people's ages—" Midoriya interjected, cutting of Mandalay who was explaining how the blonde was at the age to take a mate. _Ooh, don't do that again, Midoriya. _Toru winced as Pixie Bob shoved her paw into his face, effectively cutting him off.

"Choose your words carefully, kit!" Pixie Bob warned.

"I've just been wondering, who's that kid? What's he doing here?" Midoriya pointed over to the kid that Toru had noticed at the rest stop earlier. He was short—barely coming up to Mandalay's waist and wore a red horned cap with his shirt and shorts.

"Oh? This little guy? He's just my cousin's son, he lives with us now" Mandalay explained.

_Oh. _Toru's expression softened as she realised what the feline was implying.

"Don't be shy Kota, say hi to everyone. You're gonna be around them for the next couple of weeks" But the kid simply glared at them like they were the scum of the earth, or gum on his shoe. Taking the initiative, Midoriya strode forth to introduce himself.

"Hey there, my name's Midoriya. I'm from the UA High school hero course, it's nice to meet—" Midoriya started only to be cut off by Kota suddenly punching him in the nuts.

"Haha!" Toru flopped back onto the ground, sending up a small dust cloud as Iida raced to help his friend, "I like him!"

"That brat's got spunk!" Bakugou agreed, smiling.

"He's like a mini version of you" Todoroki deadpanned making the blonde turn on him with a snarl and causing Toru to giggle harder.

"Enough playing around" Aizawa cut in before things could get too outta hand, "Get your stuff off the bus. Once your bags are in your rooms, we'll have dinner in the cafeteria, after that you can bathe and sleep. _Tomorrow _your training starts in earnest, you'd better get a move on"

After dragging her bag from the bus to the girls' cabin where she nicked a bed by the door, Toru made her way over to the cafeteria with her stomach growling and feet aching. "Ah! I'm so hungry!" Ochako cried as she hugged her stomach.

"I feel like I could eat a whole cow!" Mina agreed.

"My stomach feels like it's eating itself!" Yaoyorozu whined.

"Mm! Wish I'd grabbed more of those melnuts!" Toru added.

"Melnuts?" Ochako furrowed her brows in confusion, "What are those?"

"Oh! They're like a cross between a coconut and a melon—they're _soo _good!" Toru drooled. "Especially grilled! Or boiled! Or raw! Mm!"

"There—there was food in the woods?!" Mina demanded turning to her.

"Well, yeah" Toru shrugged, "It's why I asked if anyone knew their plants and stuff. Didn't you guys eat?"

"No!" Mina whined dishearteningly.

"Oh well, we're eating now…" Slotting herself in between Asui and Ochako, Toru's chopsticks floated from all manner of foods as she loaded and reloaded her plate. From dumplings to rice, to crumbed chicken and curry. Dinner passed by in flurry of chopsticks and hurrying felines who did their best to collect and fill the empty plates that appeared on the tables. Kota was set to work moving boxes of vegetables—Toru assumed they had eaten earlier—and Aizawa sat huddled in the corner already half-asleep. With a quick message from Pixie Bob about meals for the rest of the camp, the students were let out after dinner to bathe and sleep.

"Ah! This feels _amazing!" _Mina sighed as she sunk into the hot pool, the steam rising in twisting curls.

"I'm _so glad_ they've got a hot springs here!" Jiro agreed joining the pink girl in the pool. It didn't take long for the rest of the girls to join them, each sinking in with similar feelings of relief. Hair tied up in dos that left their necks bare, the girls happily relaxed into the steamy water.

"Who wants to bet that's Mineta?" Asui blinked open one eye when the girls heard the—likely perverted—commotion occurring on the other side of the wooden wall, parting the two genders in the springs.

"No bet" Toru replied, sinking up to her shoulders "That's too easy"

"Before you become a hero, you should learn how to be a good human" Kota popped up from the top of the wall and knocked a startled Mineta back to the ground on _his _side of the wall.

"I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!" Mineta decreed as he fell, falling ass-first into Iida's face.

"Told ya so!" Asui sighed, "Mineta really is the worst, isn't he?"

"Thanks so much, Kota-babe!" Mina called out, making the boy peer over the other side of the wall where the girls were bathing. "We owe ya one!"

"Ah!" Kota burnt scarlet and dropped over the other side, into the boys' side when he gazed upon the girls.

"I think we broke him" Toru commented as if she were talking about the weather.

"Well, who wouldn't when gazing upon our gorgeous curves?" Mina joked, pushing her pink breasts forward in a joking manner.

_"Mina!"_ Toru splashed the girl, thus enacting the first act of water splash war.


	39. Rule #5a

** _Rule #5a: Natural talent only gets you so far…Strength comes from growth._ **

Toru woke early the next morning to a stiff breeze and a growling stomach as she landed with a small thump on the patio of the girls' cabin. Hissing at the bright light of her phone, Toru blinked rapidly a few times before she was able to discern the time. "Ish 4am?" She murmured, her voice still rough and slurred with sleep. "Wha woke me up?" Sitting up in her bed roll, glowing golden eyes glanced around the dark and empty campgrounds that were lined with forestry on every side. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary; trees rustled in to the breeze, the hoot of owl was replaced with the tweets of the early morning birds and the scent of the river was carried on the wind, like petrichor.

_Grrr! _Gurgled her stomach, reminding her of its emptiness. "Alright, alright, I'm up!" She muttered to herself, slipping from the blankets and rolled them up before carefully cracking open the cabin door. Thankful that she had chosen a spot closest to the door, Toru tucked her bed roll away before digging through her bag for her toiletries, tracksuit and sweater before she retreated out the door, doing her best not to wake the others from their slumber.

Golden eyes glowed in the dark, lighting the way for the invisible girl to shuffle through the buildings to the bathroom. Like a cat in the night, she prowled through the darkness of the early morning as she made her way over to the building with items clutched in her hands. After a quick shower beneath the cool water to wake herself up, Toru shook out the water from her hair and pulled on her underwear, school tracksuit and the yellow cable knit sweater overtop. Brushing her teeth in the dark was a new experience, one that she couldn't quite get her head around the novelty of, but it was soon done with.

The trip back to the cabin to drop off her pyjamas and toiletry bag was much the same, and soon enough she found herself rifling through the kitchen looking for something to eat. _Mmm. What to eat, what to eat…_Toru mused looking over the supply of cereals and dinner items, though nothing really jumped out at her. _Ooh! I think I remember seeing a river on the way in! And where there's a river, there's fish! I could have fish…something for breakfast! _Rising to her feet, Toru picked up a wide and shallow bucket that she inspected for any holes. _Yeah, this'll work! I'll probably be back before everyone else is up…but I'll leave a note just in case…_

Tiptoeing over to one of the noticeboards that held a variety of posters and papers, Toru ripped off the corner of a sign-up sheet and the short pencil on a string that hung next to it. Scribbling down a quick message, she shuffled over to the cafeteria door and—after a bit of finicking—wedged the note under the plaque nailed to the door. "Yeah, that works" Toru shrugged as the note flapped in its constraints, before she tottered off to the forest with bucket in hand.

With her phone tucked into her bra and hips swaying to the beat gently playing through her earphones, she didn't hear the soft footsteps that crept up behind her until the person announced themselves. "What'cha doing?" Kota demanded, suddenly there with torch fixed on the invisible girl.

"Wha—geez!" Toru jumped in surprise at his sudden appearance. Beyond the glare of the torch, Toru was able to see that the young boy was dressed in a large Water Horse t-shirt and flannel pyjama pants that were tucked into his boots. His bed hair was stuffed into the horned hat she saw him in yesterday, and Toru wondered if he'd slept with in on.

"What'cha doing out here?" He reiterated. Instead of replying with some sassy remark, Toru simply pointed towards the forest as if it was obvious.

"Food. Uh…breakfast?"

"It's 4am in the morning"

"Yeah, I know…are—are you all right?"

"What?" Kota appeared puzzled at the sudden question.

"From when you fell off the wall yesterday?" Toru tilted her head.

"…I'm fine!" He scowled, head turned away and cheeks slightly pink.

"Uh…" Toru rocked on her feet in awkwardness and cocked her head towards the forest even if he couldn't see it. "You—you wanna come? With me? To find breakfast, I mean"

"We've got stuff in the pantry…" Kota hedged, not quite trusting her. Which was understandable considering his introduction yesterday.

"Yeah, but fresh is always better, and 'sides, I haven't done this kinda thing in a while" Toru shrugged.

"Training?"

"Camping"

"Well," Kota's narrowed eyes watched her continuously rock on her heels. She couldn't smother the quirking of her lips at the sound of his stomach gurgling at the mention of food, "Since you can't be trusted—" _Ouch _"—to find your way back, I guess I'll have to"

"Great! Uh, hang on!" Toru chirped before skipping over to the note she had wedged into the door and quickly added a P.S. to the bottom of it. "Well, let's go then!" She turned back to the small boy and the pair headed off into the dark woods together.

The occasional hoot of an owl or croak of a toad accompanied their footfalls against the forest floor—Toru, of course, was used to walking much quieter, but for the sake of her young charge chose to walk a little heavier. Kota wasn't a very talkative boy, Toru was beginning to find, no, he preferred to stare at the world around him through a dark scowl and judgemental eyes that did not belong on such a young child. She _really _wanted to pry, but even she could tell that that was not a wise decision. He really didn't need another reason to hate heroes.

Shifting through the undergrowth, Toru interwove long twisting vines and bendy branches into varying traps and pitfalls as she went, setting up a sort-of perimeter around the camp under the watchful eye of the distrustful boy. "What's that for?" Kota's torchlight glared across her back as she worked, tying a collection of vines together to form a netting.

"Just in case" Toru replied absentmindedly, hands moving with precision and practise.

"But _why?"_

"Old habits, I s'pose" She shrugged, brushing off the question much to his irritation. So, instead, he switched up his questions and turned the interrogation in a new direction as Toru tugged on the vines, checking her knots.

"What are you doing up this early anyway?" His torchlight stayed trained on her, more in an intimidation attempt than help. Not that it worked.

"I could ask you the same thing"

"I asked you first"

"Well, I asked you second" Toru smiled teasingly over her shoulder at the scowling boy, "I, uh, float—uh, photosynthesise when I sleep—or as close as you can get—'cause of the whole heliokinetic thing. Anyway, it's too bright for the others, so y'know, I just ended up out on the patio…" Standing up, she laid out the trap before moving on towards the rushing river.

"You float in your sleep?" Kota trotted after her.

"Like a giant night light—or so I'm told"

"So you're told?"

"Well, I'm asleep ain't I? 'Course I'm not gonna remember!"

"Hn"

Toru couldn't keep the fond smile from her face at the interaction with the boy, as grumbly as he may be, it reminded her of times that she would fool around with her older brother when she was younger. Her brother, Kenta, had always been a rather withdrawn kid, only ever really coming to life around certain people. She was just lucky enough to be one of them…and then came the problem of shutting him up. He could talk for hours on end about nothing at all and everything all at once. _I miss him._

"Oh" Toru spoke softly when her socks met the river's edge, as she was brought from her musings "We're here, Kota. Kota? Kota!" The lack of light suddenly became apparent to the teen and she swivelled around to try to spot the boy, hoping against hope that he hadn't wandered off. _Oh God! They're gonna kill me! I lost him already! And the day hasn't even started! AHHHH! _Her internal panicked monologue was soon cut off however, by the sudden appearance of a new arrival.

"So _this _is one of his alleged brats?" A hysterically feminine voice sounded from the bushes to her right. Snapping around, Toru was met with gleaming blue eyes and the scent of decay hidden amongst the foliage. "I gotta say, I was expecting…more" The person didn't emerge from the bushes, instead choosing to remain hidden and Toru now hoped that Kota stayed away.

"Who're you?" Toru hedged, turning her body almost side-on to the unknown, and bent a little at the knees allowing her to move at any given moment.

"Blunt little thing, aren't you?" She hummed, strings of blonde hair fluttering passed her wicked eyes. "You'll be a nice addition to our collection—after I indulge in your bloody secrets of course"

"Wha—?"

"It's a pity I can't take you now" The girl—for she clearly saw it was by the shiny lipgloss glittering amongst the bushes—tittered. "But don't worry, you can be rest assured, we'll have _soo _much fun when the time comes!"

Toru went to reply, an odd cocktail of emotions whirling around inside her as the unknown girl announced some rather sinister implications for what she planned to do with the invisible girl._ And the 'we' that's odd—who's 'we'? _Before she was able to dither on it further, another rustling of leaves brought her attention over to her young scolding charge emerging from the bushes mere seconds behind the blonde who disappeared with a hysterical cackle. "Kota…?" Toru mumbled at the sudden reappearance of the boy.

"Where's it?" He demanded, scowl still firmly in place.

"Where were you?" Toru questioned, brow furrowing.

"Where's the fish?" He fired back, resolutely ignoring her question and looked down at the empty yellow bucket at her feet.

"Uh, I—I, er, I couldn't get any" Toru stumbled, trying to sort through her thoughts at the same time. _Just who was that girl? What did she want? Who's this 'we?'_

"So what was the point of this, then?"

"Uh, we can—we can just grab some fruit or something on the way back" Toru replied distractedly as she bent to retrieve the bucket at her feet.

* * *

By the time the pair had returned with a bucket full of wild berries and flesh fruits, the sun had begun to peek over the horizon and there was scarce movement in the camp. She had been met with a pair of frantic feline heroines and an equally berating Aizawa whose scowl could give Kota's a run for his money. Throughly scolded, Toru silently headed towards the hose with head bowed, where she washed the fruit before prepping it for breakfast. _Should I have mentioned the girl in the woods? _Toru bit her lower lip in thought, _Was she even real? Or did I imagine her? Were my eyes playing tricks on me? _Anxiety pricked at her bones as the cold water running over her hands, brought her out of her thoughts.

The berries were plopped into a small bowl filled with muesli and was quickly gobbled up by Kota

who continued to scowl and refused to meet anyone's gaze. In turn, Toru halved the flesh fruits and sprinkled them with salt before skewering them and grilling them on one of the barbecues.

Flesh fruits—much like melnuts—were the product of scientific curiosity/boredom; in an effort to circumvent the meat vs vegetable debate, some long-forgotten scientist had created a mango-like fruit that _tasted _like meat, but held none of the fake-meat qualities that were popular at the time. It had caused quite the controversy at the time, but they weren't as popular now—most were still found in rural towns and along mountaintops, nowadays. Toru wasn't sure why, she found them to be quite tasty. When the fruit was deemed perfectly grilled, she slipped them from the skewers and into her waiting bowl to cool.

At 5.30am on the dot, every student—both asleep and awake—were gathered out in the fields, dressed in their tracksuits as they waited before a far-too-awake Aizawa. It seemed the mountain air worked better than any grandly sized black coffee."Good morning class! Today we begin the training camp that will increase your strength! Our goal is to increase your skills exponentially so that each of you earns a provisional license. This will allow you to face the dangers that continue to fester in the darkness and proceed carefully" His gaze swept over each and every student, before he tossed a familiar electronic ball towards the fiery blonde at her right. "Look alive, Bakugou! Try throwing that for me"

"Yeah, sure, like in the fitness test" Bakugou shrugged.

"That's right, when you first started school your record was 705.2m, let's see if you've improved"

"Oh! I get it!" Mina cried as Bakugou strode off to the side to throw the ball. "We're checking our process!"

"A lot's happened in the last three months!" Sero agreed watching on as Bakugou wound up his throwing up, "Maybe he'll throw it a whole mile now!"

"C'ME ON! GET IT BAKUGOU!" Kirishima cheered through cupped hands.

"I've got this! No one blink" Bakugou smirked before launching the ball into the air with a battle cry and an explosion _"GO TO HEEEELL!"_

_Go to hell? What is up with his obsession with death? _Toru puzzled, _I mean, I'm technically an assassin and even I'm not that bad!_

"That was 709.6m" Aizawa intoned, throughly enjoying the look of shock on the blonde's face.

"That's it?" Kirishima asked, "It's kinda disappointing"

"You've had a single semester at UA and due to your various experiences, you've all defiantly improved, but those have mostly been limited to mental prowess and technical skill. With a slight increase in stamina along the way. As you can see your Quirks themselves have not improved much on a fundamental level; that's why we're _now _gonna focus on improving your powers" Aizawa grinned wickedly, "Welcome to the training camp from hell! Let's hope you all survive!"

And with that _lovely _introduction, they got to work—and it _was hell! _Bakugou spent the day plunging his hands into boiling water to expand his sweat glands and then shot them into the air, creating chain explosions to increase the size and destruction of the attacks. Todoroki was submerged in a petrol drum of water which he used his Quirk to alternate between frozen and boiling in order to adapt his body temperature at will and better control on his flames. Sero's screams echoed out over the ridge as he produced a seemingly endless amount of tape in order to increase shooting speed, strength and capacity for the tape.

Kirishima and Ojiro sparred together, both using their Quirks against each other in order to toughen them up. Kaminari was wired into a high-volt capacity battery where he spent most of the day sending electricity through the thing so he could handle larger volts of electricity. He mostly just permeated the smell of burnt flesh. Koda's not-so-loud screams were barely heard from the mountaintops, though his were more for increasing his vocal range and confidence levels.

Aoyama's constant lasers of light burst up into the air with a thrust of his hips, and nearby stood a port-a-loo with his name practically engraved on it as he tried to increase his range and overcome the tummy issues. Tokoyami's war cries of "DARK SHADOW!" that echoed out of the cave to the right were the only indicators of what was going on in there. However, he supposedly was trying to increase his control over his Quirk even when it went wild.

Ochako had been zipped into a zorb ball and was pushed down the mountain in an attempt to increase her tolerance of zero-gravity and the constant use of her Quirk. Iida ran back and forth across the mountainside at top speed, to improve his calf strength and stamina, alternating between tiptoes & flat feet. Asui had picked a nearby cliff to scale using all of her limbs—including her tongue, in order to increase her muscular strength. Sato and Momo probably had it easiest, as they were sat at a table scarfing down food in tandem with their individual trainings—Sato lifted weights and Momo produced an endless stream of nesting dolls. Next would've been Mineta who was practically drowning in his own balls by this point, each of the little purple sticky balls pile high as he continued to pluck them off in an attempt to increase his durability.

Jiro and Mina were increasing their Quirks durability by constantly attacking the cliffside—Jiro with her earjacks and Mina with her acid—whilst Midoriya had been set to work increasing his stamina and muscles in an attempt to reduce the constant breaking of his bones; through repetitive exercises.

And finally, Toru faced off against Shoji—she was working on stealth and he on his tracking. The thing was, whilst he had been blindfolded, she had been forced into possibly the most ridiculously garish outfit she had ever laid her eyes on. The pink tulle monstrosity—it could hardly be called a dress—that poofed out around her forearms and knees fell into the lolita category, if only just.

The lolita-style dress fell to her knees in so many layers of pink tulle that she felt like a cupcake with legs; the matching puffy sleeves that were cinched at the elbows with pink ribbon, certainly didn't help matters. On top of that, she wore an apron and a pair of neon elbow length gloves that had been laced with tinkling bells which rang no matter which way she moved and had.

Thankfully, she had been allowed to go barefoot—so small mercies, and all that. The idea was that even with the ridiculous outfit, she should be able to hide herself—of course, this was proving much harder than she first thought. Currently, she had been trying to bend and refract the light around herself, using the jingling bells as the connector points, like a mirror.

Across the way, Class 1-B had finally arrived with their form room teacher, Vlad King, and Ragdoll & Tiger (the second half of the Wild, Wild Pussycats) in tow. Following the brief pause that the arrival of the other class provided, the rest of the day was filled with sweat, tears and anguish as the students pushed themselves beyond their limits.

* * *

That evening following the day's intense training, all of the first year students crawled towards the outdoor barbecues where Ragdoll and Pixie Bob stood behind a variety of vegetables, meat and utensils for the students to use. "Now! Remember what I said: we're not serving your food anymore!" Pixie Bob happily declared.

"If you guys wanna eat, you guys'll have to make your own meals! Starting with cur~ry!" Sang Ragdoll.

"Yes ma'am" Even knowing in advance that they would have to cook their own meals from here on in, the tired students couldn't help but groan at the notion.

"Haha! Oh man! You guys look exhausted!" Ragdoll laughed, "But that doesn't mean you can coast by making sloppy cat food!"

"I see!" Iida was the first to awaken momentarily from his exhausted slump, "An important part of saving someone recovering from a disaster, is providing for their physical needs as well as spiritual"

"It's just good skills to have anyway, Iida" Toru sighed as her class representative motored on.

"Ah! This is a _great _opportunity!" Iida powered on, turning to his tired peers with unbound enthusiasm "Let's make the most delicious curry in the world, everyone!"

"Yeah, okay…" Chorused everyone else. _Does he even know how to cook?_

Emerging from the showers, Toru made her way over to the grills where Todoroki was systematically going around and lighting up the grills with his Quirk. Bakugou seemed to have exploded one and Yaoyorozu had produced a lighter to use. Moving over to one of the picnic tables laden with food, Shinsou simply handed her a knife and she set to work quickly chopping the onions.

In the end, the boxed curry was less than pretty and probably a little on the overcooked side, but they were all tired & hungry and so it was gobbled down with great gusto. "If I got this at a restaurant, I'd send this crap back. But after today, I'll eat every bite!" Kirishima gasped out between bites.

"Don't say that!" Sero commented from next to him.

"Whoa! You're scarfing Momo!" Mina noted.

"Yes" Yaoyorozu sighed as she continued to scarf it down with all the elegance of a lady. Across from the trio, Toru dipped her burnt bun into the curry sauce and quietly watched the scene play out. "My Quirk transforms lipids into brand new atoms to create inorganic materials. That means the more I eat, the more I can make"

"Like how poop works" Sero added, making Momo sulk at the analogy.

"APOLOGISE!" Jiro hit Sero up the back of the head as she walked passed with her empty bowl, having caught the tail-end of the conversation.

"What did I do?!" Sero whined petulantly, rubbing the back of his head.

"You basically said her Quirk was shit" Toru supplied with an invisible grin.

"Ah! Momo! I'm so sorry!" He snapped towards Yaoyorozu with teary eyes as he begged for forgiveness, "Please forgive me!" Yaoyorozu was pulled from her slump and frantically began to wave her hands in front of her as she tried to stop her classmate from causing a scene. With his mostly empty curry bowl long forgotten, Jiro managed to sneak a few extra bites from his plate as the boy pleaded for Yaoyorozu to forgive him. Toru smiled at the display and Kirishima rolled his eyes at friend's stupidity.


	40. Rule #54

** _Rule #54: Anticipation kills._ **

Day three was filled with much the same as the day before; they had been woken at the ass-crack of dawn when the sparrows were only just beginning to greet the morning's rays and tiredly pushed towards their individual exercises and training regimes. Aching and tired, Toru had reluctantly pulled the pink monstrosity back on and met Shoji outside the barracks for their stealth training. _Why can't we do this in the woods?! _She mentally whined as she crept close to the multi-armed hero.

Turning away from the remedial class, Aizawa's voice travelled out across the plains towards the rest of students. "Don't lose focus! Each of you can move faster and no matter _what _you're doing, just remember _where _you started from. Don't forget who you were before UA, always keep in mind _why _you're sweating and why you're limits keep getting tested: that's what it means to improve"

_Where I started? Who I am? How I got here…_Toru's thoughts drifted back to days of rubber-filled rifles and obnoxiously happy octopi.

"…THAT'S WHY YOU GET TO WORK OUT WITH US FOUR PUSSYCATS!" Ragdoll called out, breaking Toru from her thoughts as she dodged one of Shoji's arms and tried to reach for the flag hanging from his waist. A quick glance spared over her shoulder showed Midoriya talking to Aizawa, but her attention was soon brought back to the task at hand.

"Mew, mew, mew!" Pixie Bob called from her cardboard throne "More importantly: TONIGHT'S GONNA BE SO MUCH FUN! WE'RE PITTING CLASSES AGAINST EACH OTHER IN A TEST OF COURAGE—!"

"Looks like you'll get your test of courage after all, Toru" Asui croaked as she passed by with a bottle of water in her hand.

"Yeah, if we survive this first" Toru sassed as she jumped out of the way of Shoji's swats "Eek!"

"—I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN TRAINING HARD TODAY AND LATER YOU'LL TO PLAY HARD TOO! HOW'S THAT FOR A REWARD?!" Pixie Bob continued.

"It just sounds like more training!" Kendo complained.

"And training in the dark, no less!" Jiro added with a whine.

"Revelry in the dark!" Tokoyami murmured to himself before he returned to the dark caves.

"How much can we do in one day?!" Complained Rin.

"Ahaha! As long as we get to beat Class A, am I right?" Monoma replied dazed.

"DON'T SLACK OFF NOW!" Pixie Bob called out, "MAKE SURE YOU KEEP ON _PUSHING _YOURSELF AS YOU WORK!"

"Yes ma'am!" Chorused the students as they returned to their exercises. _Oh boy!_

* * *

Once again on vegetable duty, Toru sat across from Bakugou as the pair easily and skillfully made their way through the pile of uncut food next to them. "Whoa Bakugou!" Ochako gasped in awe as she passed with a bundle of kindling in her arms, "You're really good with that knife! It's weird"

"Whaddya mean _'it's weird' _?! How can you people be so damn bad at everything?!" He snarled as he continued to slice up the carrots.

"Hey, look at that!" Kaminari commented as he passed by, "He's not blowing stuff up!"

"Wow! Toru! How are you doing that?" Ochako crept round to the side so she watched over her friend's shoulder as she skinned and filleted the fish.

"I've done pigeons and toads before" Toru shrugged as she scraped off the scales, "It's not too dissimilar"

"You ate a toad?!"

"No" Toru puzzled with furrowed brows, "Did you never do a dissection in junior high?"

"Yeah kinda, our sensei did one for us all to watch—a cow's leg, I think" Ochako shrugged, "What about you?"

"Oh we did pretty much everything: a cow's eyeball, a pig heart, lungs and the like. Actually—" Toru smiled as the memory came to her, "—Sensei was trying to show us how the lungs worked, so she stuck a straw into one of the valves and went to blow into it; but she ended up sucking instead!"

_"Ew!" _The gravity girl gagged at the imagery, and across from them Bakugou scrunched his face up in disgust.

"It was hilarious!" Toru grinned before going back to the fish in her hands.

"I dunno if I can eat that now!" Ochako groaned, looking a little pale.

"Oh well, more for m~e!" Toru sang.

"YOU GUYS!" Iida suddenly erupted, "YOU'RE HANDS AREN'T MOVING! WE'LL NEVER MAKE THE BEST STEW IF YOU STOP NOW!"

"Heh! I'm too tired for this!" Kirishima groaned behind her. Toru stifled a giggle.

Dinner that night was spent around one of the few bonfires littering the campground. After some floundering with the barbecues and discovering new sides to her classmates in regards to their cooking skills, Toru found herself seated amongst her peers around one of the bonfires, as they just relaxed after their long day of training. The grills were long since cooled by this point and their empty bowls were piled high to one side with chopsticks bundled together in an empty cup. Crispy marshmallows dripped from their sticks as they sat over the firelight and chocolate was smeared across faces as the varying s'mores were devoured.

The thrumming of the acoustic guitar (produced by Yaoyorozu at Jiro's bequest) beneath worn fingers, the chatter and laughter of tired students and the sound of the roaring fires filled the clearing as they waited for night to fall for their dreaded 'test of courage'. Currently, Mina, Kendo and Toru were wildly dancing together like children in the firelight as they made up words that went along with Jiro's mindless strumming. The current song was upbeat and rockish, leading the trio to twist and spin around with swaying hips and bubbling laughter, completely carefree.

Soon enough, the bonfires were left to cool and the first years were rounded up and herded towards a nondescript clearing where the test of courage was to begin. Though the evening was much cooler than it had been during the day, it was still rather humid, so many of the students had opted for less layers than usual. Dressed her oversized pyjama shirt that hung off of one shoulder and was tucked into her worn jean shorts, Toru stood amongst her peers, waiting with excited anticipation for the test to begin.

"Perfect! We've filled out bellies and cleaned the dishes! IT'S TIME FOR—" Pixie Bob declared.

"—A totally awesome test of courage!" Mina happily exclaimed as she jumped up and down in her excitement.

"We're gonna win!" Chorused the rest of the remedial class.

"Not so fast" Aizawa cut in, "It pains me to say it, but the remedial class will be having lessons with _me _tonight instead"

_"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME?!" _Mina cried.

"Sorry" Aizawa apologised, sounding not at all apologetic as he bound the required students in his scarf, "You're training during the day didn't impress me, so I'll be using _this _time too"

"Aw! Gimme a break! I just wanna prove my cou~rage!" Whined the boys of the remedial class.

"Okay! So!" Pixie Bob spun, happily ignoring Aizawa as he dragged his bounties off to who knows where. "Class B is going to start out as out scarers. When they're in place, Class A will leave in pairs every three minutes. There are tags with your names on them at the far end of the route, your goal is to collect those"

"Revelry in the dark!" Tokoyami murmured for the umpteenth time. _Why does he keep saying that?_

"Now, those who are scarers: you aren't allowed to make physical contact. Use your Quirks to _terrify _the others! Got it?" Ragdoll continued.

"THE WINNERS ARE THE CREATIVE STUDENTS WHO MAKE THE MOST PEOPLE PISS THEIR PANTS!" Tiger concluded.

"Did we need that visual?" Jiro wondered.

"I see!" Iida burst in with yet another random epiphany, "There encouraging us to stoke our imaginations as we compete with each other, all while showing creative uses of our Quirks in the process! AS EXPECTED OF UA!"

"ALRIGHT!" Pixie Bob shoved a fistful of numbered tickets into their faces "EVERYONE DRAW TO SEE WHO YOUR PARTNER WILL BE!"

After drawing the number three, Toru found herself paired with Jiro, who appeared to be less excited about the event than anyone else. In fact, her reaction was almost the exact opposite of Mina's had been. In the end, the fifteen remaining students (after the five remedial students had been carted off) where put into seven pairs, with one extra. Midoriya was unfortunate enough to be that one extra, much to his dismay. "We were randomly assigned, it's not that anybody didn't choose your or anything" Ojiro tried to placate him.

"Listen up Tail!" Bakugou growled, spinning the other blonde around to face him, "Trade with me!" He shot a thumb over to Todoroki whose bitch-face practically screamed, _'Yeah? Fuck you too!'_

_"Ao~yama!" _Mineta moaned like a man possessed as he crept towards the terrified Frenchman who stood next to his partner, Yaoyorozu, "Please switch partners with me! I should be with her!"

"Revelry in the dark!" Tokoyami muttered again; this time it was Shoji who shot him a puzzled look.

Ten minutes later after the ground rules were laid down and the first pair of students were shoved into the dark woods, Jiro and Toru stood at the edge of the creeping trees as they waited for their turn. Frightfully high screams and hysterical laughter could be heard from the forest as the group before them (Bakugou & Todoroki) encountered some of Class B. "Alright! Next team!" Sang Pixie Bob, "That's you two kittens! DJ and Little Miss Disappear!"

_"KYAAAAAA!" _Came a scream from the dark forest, making the girls jump.

"AH! What was that?!" Jiro panicked as she stuck close to the invisible girl.

"That's Bakugou and Todoroki, I think? Or it could've been Shoji & Tokoyami" Toru mused, "Can you imagine Bakugou screaming like that?" She spun around so that she was walking backwards in front of the musical hero.

"H-he's certainly loud enough!" Jiro jumped at the rustle of some nearby bushes, but there was nothing there."Urgh! Why do we even have to this?! I hate stuff like this!" She grumbled.

"Really?" Toru tilted her head in question, "I love this kinda thing!"

"You're one those pricks who laugh during horror movies, aren't you?" Jiro deadpanned.

"Only the B-grade ones" Toru shrugged, "But I do love a good horror"

_"Great"_

"Well, as scary as some of the horror stuff can be, I don't think our classmates'll really go that far. I mean, can you imagine them hanging fake bodies from the trees? Or writing your name in blood?"

"Well, _now _I can!" Jiro wrapped her arms around herself as she shuffled after the invisible girl.

"Don't worry so much, Jiro! You'll be fine!" Toru laughed as she continued to walk backwards.

_"It's not funny Toru!" _Jiro snapped.

"Sorry, sorry"

There was a beat of silence as the two continued on down the darken and wooden path before Jiro spoke up again."…H-Hey, do you smell something burning?"

"Actually, now that you mention it…" Toru sniffed the ashen air, "Who wants to bet Bakugou blew something up again?"

"No, no, I don't think so…" Jiro muttered as she spun around, trying to find the source of the smell "His explosions smell different, and they kinda rip through the air"

"Yeah, you're right" Toru nodded, "If it was Bakugou, we'd probably have seen the after shock by now…I wonder what it was? D'ya think someone in Class B could've done it? Jiro?"

While Toru had continued to walk backwards along the path, Jiro had stopped short and was staring at something over her shoulder with eyes blown wide. She was practically shaking in fear as Toru bumped into whatever was behind her. Sparing a glance over her shoulder, she came face to face—well, face to brain—with a large teal Nomu. "Crap!" Jumping away from the hulking Nomu, Toru reappeared at Jiro's side as the beast fully emerged from the bushes. "What's a Nomu doing here?!"

"How the _hell _should I know?!" Jiro fired back hysterically as the two fell into their fighting stances.

Palming one of the Anti-Sensei knives that she refused to go anywhere without these days, Toru reeled her arm back and flung the green weapon towards the exposed brain, intent on at least downing the great hulking beast before them. However, fortune was not on their side as the Nomu released its Quirk. Two of its six sunken eyes began to glow an eery red and the knife was turnaround in midair and flung back at them at blinding speeds.

Both Jiro and Toru jumped to the sides with a squeak or a yelp respectively, leaving the rubbery weapon to bury itself hilt first into the tree behind them. "Any _other brilliant _ideas?" Jiro sassed as she rose from the ground. "Toru?" Turning to her partner, Jiro found Toru still on her knees and staring at the Nomu with slack limbs. "T-Toru? Are you alright? Toru?" Too far from her classmate, Jiro shot out an earjack and wrapped it around the girl's wrist, before pulling with all her might. Even with all of the training she had been doing, she was only able to pull the girl back a couple of paces.

At the same time, Toru found herself entrapped by the nightmarish illusion the Nomu had placed on her. Much like the nightmares she had first suffered after the death of Koro-Sensei, she found herself unable to look away from the scene before her, unable to discern what was reality and unable to awaken. She had told Jiro she liked horror movies, but the scene before her played out like something from the pages of a Stephen King novel.

Yellow and decaying, Koro-Sensei stood before her with a jovial smile that juxtaposition the green knife sticking out of his chest. She could see sections of his skeleton and the bug-infested pieces of flesh dripped from the bones like soggy paper. "Come now, Toru" Koro-Sensei chirped, his cheerful voice no different from when she had heard it last,"Is that really how you should greet your sensei?"

Her limbs felt heavy and she vaguely felt Jiro's attempts to move her, but her heart was wailing out to the vision in front of her. Sorrow gripped her chest in a deathly hold as great big tears welled up in her eyes and dripped down her cheeks. Heaving sobs wracked at her small frame and she paid no mine to the snot dribbling from her nose; just beyond Koro-Sensei, Toru could've sworn she had seen Yukimura-Senseis' burnt and broken form smiling at her as well.

"…'me on…m…ve…Toru!" Jiro's words floated through her dreams but were unable to penetrate them fully. Completely consumed by the grief brought on by the supposed return of her two let teachers, Toru was unaware of how her Quirk reacted to such images. Tears continued to run down her face and her skin began to flicker with the intensity of ultraviolet light. The heat from the fast-moving UV rays was enough for Jiro to jump back with gasp of pain as if she had been burned.

Clutching the aching and burnt limb to her chest, she wasn't able to see the swinging arm before it was too late. Backhanded through the trees by one of the multiple arms, Jiro sailed away as Toru's cries being the last thing she heard before she was enveloped by the foliage. In the meantime, Toru's wails had reached a crescendo, turning her usually quiet sobs into hysterical screams that were heard across the forest; they were so loud that a nearby flock of nesting birds took flight.

It was only once the Nomu had deemed her properly sedated, that it moved forth to envelope her. Multiple hands pulled her from the ground and up to the Nomu's chest where the leathery skin turned to quicksand and pulled her numb form in. It wrapped itself around her, pouring itself into her nose, mouth and ears until she had become fully embedded in its chest like a mole. A few test jumps revealed that her fetal position above its heart would not be changing any time soon. With sorrow in her heart, gloopy skin in her sinuses and black spots dotted throughout her vision, Toru was stolen away by the brainy beast with thundering footsteps.


	41. Interlude: The Capture of Bakugou & Hagakure

**_"Two villains attacked us, it's possible there are more coming. Everyone return to camp immediately! We're regrouping, do NOT engage any enemies!" _**Mandalay's voice rang through Bakugou's head with a weird echo before it was cut off completely. That was the only notice they got, and the look on Ragdoll's face was enough to shut even him up. He'd never seen someone go from chipper to serious so fast before. _Dammit! She gave me whiplash!_

"Ah! Dammit!" Bakugou cursed through the hand slapped over his mouth as he walked behind Todoroki through the pink fog. The unconscious form of their last scarer was draped over Todoroki's shoulders as they walked, it was from him that the two had learned not to breath in the strange poisonous substance—whatever it was.

"There must be some sort of gas villain out here" Todoroki mused, "I'm worried about the others who are still in the forest, but I don't see how we can help now. Hopefully Ragdoll can take care of everyone else"

"Don't tell me what to do, Icy—" Bakugou's familiar threat was cut off as the pair came across a horrific scene. In front of them, a villain was crouched over the remains of a chewed human hand and a splatter of blood that painted the ground next to it. He was dressed in what appeared to be an all black straight jacket, like the ones seen on Death Row Convicts. "Crap! Who's that? Hey, which group was in front of us, again?"

"Tokoyami, I think, and Shoji" Todoroki replied, keeping his voice low.

_"So pretty!"_ The villain gushed, his voice hoarse and rough as he slowly rose to his feet and turned to face them, "No! Have to work!…_Can't!…_But it's _sooo _delicious! Beautiful flesh…don't tempt me!" Turning around, the only part of the villain's face that was revealed was his mouth, and even then the lips had been pulled back with metallic pins. Bakugou's eyes blew wide at the sight. "I have a job to do!" Moonfish exclaimed.

"No fighting—" Wide-eyed and feral, Bakugou taunted the villain to hide in order to cover up his fear "—Is that the rule?"

Just then Mandalay's telepathy rung out once more. **_"Everyone in Class A & Class B! In the name of the Pro Hero: Eraserhead, you are granted permission to engage in combat. I repeat: use your training. You may fight these villains!" _**There was a pause in communication as Mandalay was seemingly relayed said information before the rest was relayed to the others. **_"Listen, we've discovered one of the villains targets: it's a student named 'Kaachan"_** Mandalay reported. _Me?_ Bakugou scrunched his nose up at the use of his nickname, before frustration welled up at who had likely discovered said information, _DEKU!_

** _"Kaachan—you should try to avoid combat and stick to a group. I hope you can hear me!"_ **

"I can focus better if you get outta my damn head!" Bakugou retorted as he raced towards the villain, leaving Todoroki to stay behind with their unconscious cargo. "I can take care of myself!" No sooner had he said those words, did he have to slam on the breaks as Moonfish responded in kind. It was only thanks to Todoroki's fast reflexes that he was able to avoid being skewered—not that he would ever admit that to the heteromatic teen.

"Don't rush into this fight carelessly!" Todoroki scolded as ice erupted between the blonde and the villain.

"Have to keep going…" Rasped Moonfish pushing against the ice with what appeared to be his teeth. Suspended as he was as up above them, propped up by the bones protruding from his mouth "…Have to work…do my job…_raaah!"_

"Weren't you listening to Mandalay?!" Todoroki turned on Bakugou as he rose from the crouch, "They're here because they're after _you!"_

_"_Telling us not to engage and then changing their minds, I don't know how, but I get the feeling that this is Deku's fault!" Bakugou snarled as the vein on his forehead pulsed. _"_RAAH! I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS!" Jumping out from behind the ice for a moment did nothing but paint a target on his back as the villain tried to skewer him again and more ice was place between them.

"DAMMIT!" Todoroki snarled as Moonfish disappeared into the canopy, "He's good at moving through the terrain with his Quirk!"

"That freak looks like a SCRAWNY LITTLE SIDEKICK TO ME! C'ME ON YA BASTARD!" At that war cry, Moonfish rose from the treetops using his teeth to propel him skywards.

"This clearly isn't his first battle" Todoroki warned, falling into a battle stance and kept his eyes locked on the villain high above them.

"Show me…Show me your exquisite flesh!" Moonfish drooled.

"We can't start fires around here!" Todoroki snapped at Bakugou who had reeled back a sparking arm to launch up at the villain, "The flames will spread! Everyone could die if we aren't careful! Do you understand me?!"

"YEAH I GET IT! I'M NOT STUPID!" Bakugou replied in kind as he lowered his sparking fist. _Jesus fuck! It's cold! _Bakugou dodged yet another attack as the bladed teeth were sent careening towards him by the made villain, only to be intercepted by Todoroki's ice.

"Flesh…pieces of meat…_gimme!" _Moonfish rasped around his elongated teeth.

"Teeth attacks? Seriously? It's time to blast this freak with everything I've got!" Bakugou declared only to be shut down _again _by Todoroki.

"You _can't!" _Todoroki scolded as ice crept up over his cheeks.

"If the trees burn, just cover them with ice, stupid!"

"A big explosion will impair my vision, dumbass! I may not be able to see the fire! And how are you gonna get close to him anyway?"

"Grr!"

Suddenly as explosion off to the left caught their attention, one that made even the villain pause in his tracks as it crept closer and closer. Staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed the teens were soon met with the faint sound of Midoriya and Shoji, as well as inarticulate war cries and pounding feet. "…I see ice! They're fighting!" Midoriya's voice floated out of the foliage.

"BAKUGOU! TODOROKI!" Shoji cried as he emerged from the treeline with Midoriya clinging to his back and Dark Shadow right on their heels. "ONE OF YOU! GIVE US SOME LIGHT!"

"MORE FLESH!" Moonfish crowed, sending a bladed tooth towards Shoji who dodged out of the way just in time for Dark Shadow to take the hit.

Bakugou and Todoroki could only watch on in awe as Dark Shadow—now in control—pinned Moonfish to the ground like it was child's play. Within the wriggling confines of the dark mass that was Dark Shadow, Tokoyami was curled over and weeping for the control he had lost and the pain he was dishing out with the full strength of his Quirk. _I am never back talking Tokoyami again! _Bakugou gulped, _He'll kill me!_

"Shoji and Midoriya…" Todoroki breathed. "And is that Tokoyami?!"

"WE NEED SOME LIGHT NOW!" Shoji barked, "HE'S OUTTA CONTROL!"

"He's attacking blindly" Todoroki gently lowered the student to the floor "I'll use my fire—"

"—Not so fast" Bakugou swung an arm out, this time stopping Todoroki from rushing in blindly. Beady red eyes were locked onto Moonfish who pushed himself to his feet and began to attack Dark Shadow with great lust. "Flesh…slabs of meat…no good…can't allow it!…I'm the one who gets to SLICE THEM OPEN! DON'T STEAL FROM ME!"

"YOU DON'T MATTER, YOU INSIGNIFICANT BUG!" Dark Shadow snarled, easily drowning the villain in his darkness.

"Now finish him" Bakugou coached from the sidelines. Moonfish was backhanded into a tree where he slid broken and bloodied to the floor and Dark Shadow reared his head and roared into the night. "NOT ENOUGH! NEED MORE! REVELRY IN THE DARK!"

"Now!" Bakugou surged forth with Todoroki at his side, the two teens igniting their fists as they landed next to Tokoyami, effectively bringing Dark Shadow back down to size and in control. "And once again, I'm a terrible match-up for you, bird brain"

Collapsing to his knees, a red-eyed Tokoyami knelt with sweat dripping from his forehead and gulping in lungfuls of air. "Thanks" He bowed his head, "You saved me"

"We could barely defend against that guy" Todoroki nodded over to the fallen villain, "But you beat him instantly"

"My friend" Shoji walked over with Midoriya still clutched in his arms, "Are you okay? You did what we needed you to"

"Shoji…" Tokoyami raised his gaze to the bleeding nub where one of his hands should be, "I apologise, you too Midoriya, I'm still far too immature. Anger _consumed _me, I let my Quirk take over, the influence of the darkness combined with my fury spurned Dark Shadow into a frenzy until…I couldn't contain it and I ended up hurting Shoji!"

"We'll deal with that later" Shoji murmured, "That's what you'd say if our roles were reversed"

"Huh?"

"Okay, I don't know if you heard Mandalay, but I found out the villains are after Kaachan" Midoriya leant over Shoji's shoulder to relay the information, bruised and broken as he was.

"Bakugou? Are they trying to kill him? Why?" Tokoyami replied after he had recomposed himself. Bakugou was left standing on the sidelines as he tried to sort through what just happened; the reality of the situation finally seemed to be dawning on him.

"I'm not sure, but I think…we should get to camp. It's the safest place right now, so long as Vlad King and Aizawa-Sensei have regrouped there…"

"I understand. So our mission is to get Bakugou back to safety by serving as his protectors"

"It's possible the Pussycats are still fighting in the clearing; going that way would draw the attention of the villains, plus it's longer. We should cut straight across"

"We don't know how many enemies there are. We might come across some by chance"

"We can use Shoji's search ability and Todoroki's ice, and if Tokoyami's okay with it, we can always use Dark Shadow now that we can control him. Honestly with a group like this, we could probably even go up against All Might"

"I'D BE FINE BY MYSELF!" Bakugou finally burst out.

"We'll surround you as we walk" Todoroki retorted.

"I DON'T NEED ANY OF YOU PROTECTION, DAMMIT!"

"Well, you're getting it" Shoji snapped, "Let's go"

"DON'T IGNORE ME!"

"Just make sure you keep up" Todoroki followed after Shoji, both carrying their cargos once more.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Bakugou snarled as he stomped after his classmates.

* * *

One moment he had been walking in between Todoroki and Tokoyami, and the next he was standing in a new clearing with one of the villain's gnarled hands clasped around his neck. The mouth of the warp gate from the USJ incident lapped at his feet, unbridled fear coursed in his veins and the scent of burnt flesh filled his nostrils. Blue hellfire licked at the trees around them and filled the air with ash; his classmates lay strewn about the clearing in varying stages of disarray. "Checkmate" Grinned the villain holding him.

"KAACHAN! NOOOOOOO!" The last thing he saw was Midoriya rushing forth with both arms bound in splints.

"Deku…"

On the other side of the gate, Bakugou was met with two sights: one was of the League of Villains Vanguard—as they had so proclaimed themselves—lounging around a wooden-encrusted bar as they thrust him towards one of the back rooms where prisoners and hostages were held. The other was that of Hagakure bound and encased in the skin of a large teal Nomu with tears dripping down her cheeks as low keening whines fell from her lips. His brain seemed to stutter at that, especially as the blue-haired handy villain stroked the Nomu's skin almost lovingly, before directing him towards the back rooms with the blonde.

Whatever hold—literally and figuratively—that the Nomu held on the girl was released as she was dumped out next to him in what had clearly been a storage room at one point, when she began to hack and retch, trying to cough up what had been shoved down her throat. "Hagakure?" Bakugou hedged as the coughing began to lessen and she flipped herself over onto her stomach, blinking blearily at her surroundings. Her arms shook as they propped her up and a string of drool fell from her lips as she tiredly panted. It wouldn't be until later that he tried to piece together why could actually _see _her.

Moving to raise a hand to the girl's shoulder, he only got so far before her wide-eyed attention snapped to him."NO!" Hagakure threw herself backwards as if she had been burned, her back painfully slamming up against the opposite wall. Bakugou flinched back from the sudden reaction and his usual snappy and roaring quips became stuck on his tongue. Curling up in the corner across from him she clasped onto her head, as she buried it in her knees. "Don't—don't touch me! Don't touch me" No other words were shared and the rest of the night drifted on without complaint; and they wouldn't until morning.


	42. Rule #5

** _Rule #5: You don't waste good_ **

**_'Of the forty students in attendance at the UA training camp, fourteen were found unconscious & in serious condition, eleven were injured, thirteen were unharmed and two were missing…Reports say that of the Pro heroes, Pixie Bob sustained a serious head injury and Ragdoll has gone missing with concerning amounts of blood left at the scene…' _**The television prattled on as Shigaraki flipped carelessly through the channels; not one of them was without notice about the latest League of Villains attack on UA. '**_…Three villains have been apprehended, but others are still at large…It would appear that the criminals behind the attack call themselves the League of Villains Vanguard Action Squad. The League was previously involved with the USJ attack and the Hosu incident…' _**Toru—bound and zipped into a modified hazmat suit (on account of the information relayed by the Nomu to the League upon their arrival last night)—grit her teeth so hard that she thought they were going to break. Following their harrowing capture, the two teens had spent the rest of the night inside the converted storage room—Toru curled up at one end and Bakugou at the other.

When morning had broken, the pair had been fed relatively well considering the situation—mostly just an assortment of bar snacks that had been scavenged from behind the counter. Next, the two had been separated for individual…"interrogations" Ones for which had left Toru's confused thoughts reeling, _Are they trying to recruit us? I mean, I can see why you'd think so…but __why?_ All in all, the two heroes-in-training had been treated fairly well, considering the situation. **_'…Youngest victim of the training camp attack was reportedly the son of Pro Heroes: Water Horse, killed by Muscular in a tragic…It's perfectly obvious to me that there's some sort of problem with UA's current management. If I had a child who wanted to become a hero, there's no way I'd enrol them in a school that'll—'_**

"Hehehe!' Shigaraki giggled as he muted the bar's TV and swivelled around on his bar stool to face the two teens who were bound before him. "I'm so _grateful _to the media for all the free publicity lately! Right? Isn't it nice, Bakugou Katsuki?" His one free eye was pinned on the blonde strapped into the chair with both his hands bound in a metal casing and shackled together for good measure. "But then again, I'd s'pose you know all about that wouldn't you, Hagakure Toru?"

It then rolled over to Toru who was similarly bound next to him and resolutely refusing to even glance at her explosive peer. Despite the situation, half her mind was more focused on the All Might novelty USB stick that Twice had shoved into her hands as she was wheeled out to the bar and what it meant for her. The other half of her mind was trying to focus on not going supernova, even as she felt her skin bubble and bulge painfully with the power of it.

Whatever the Nomu had done to her in the forest had paused the process if only momentarily, but now it was back and with a vengeance. _Y'know, I know that transplant recipients only live a certain length of time afterwards, but I'd hoped to get to graduation at least… _Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision behind the hazy plastic of the suit and her mother's voice flittered through her head as they told her monstrous tales of relatives going out the same way. Soon enough, the sound of the villains' monologuing became background noise in favour of the television's volume which had been switched back on at some point.

**_'…Let's return to a short clip from the UA high school press conference that just wrapped up…' _**Toru's head absentmindedly flickered back to the TV where she found Nezu, Aizawa and Vlad King all dressed in black tie suits and were bowing to the camera. _Sensei? But he hates being on TV! _**_'…We are here to apologise. A recent incident allowed harm to come to twenty-seven first year heroes and we staff were ill-prepared. We take responsibility for any trauma caused by our negligence; it's our duty to train heroes, but also to protect heroes-in-training…' _**Cameras flashed like torches in the night as the teachers bowed once more. Toru had only ever seen Karasuma-Sensei looking that serious before—of course, that was his default setting. **_'…Alright, I'll take the first question—' _**A well manicured hand shot up into frame, belonging to one of the reporters, **_'—since the beginning of the year, UA students have had four encounters with villains. This time there were students who were gravelly injured, how did you explain this to their families? What are some of the specific steps you're taking to ensure their safety in the future?' _**Toru's brows furrowed at that, especially when Nezu's response about increased patrols around the school earned a scoff from Dabi in the corner. _Those questions…it's like they're being treated as villains… _Her eyes then grew wide as her mind turned to the other half of the questions,_ Oh shit! I didn't even think how Mum's gonna react! She's gonna kill me! AHHHHHH! I'm sooooo dead!_

"Hehe! Isn't that strange?" Shigaraki chuckled turning to face the pair once more, "The heroes are becoming the bad guys. Seems like they're not dealing with _this _very well at all. So much criticism, but everyone makes a mistake or two, right? Everyone gets their hands dirty at some point, right Hagakure?" Toru growled in the back of her throat at the insinuation, even as she felt multiple eyes turn to her. "But anyway, it's not like they're _supposed _to be perfect; modern day heroes sure have it rough. Don't cha think, Bakugou?"

"Once a hero receives payment to protect people, they aren't a _real_ hero anymore. That's what's Stain's actions taught us" Added Spinner from where he leant against the exposed wall

"Awe…" Toru grit out through pained teeth, as she tried her best to fake the sassiness she wasn't feeling. "Are you pouting big baby boo? Did someone not get enough hugs?"

"Why you little—!" Spinner's reply was drowned out by Twice's hysterical belly laughter as he collapsed against the bartop.

"A hero in this current system only cares about money and glory—" Shigaraki lectured.

"—How is that any different from you guys?" Toru questioned, though she was pointedly ignored.

"And since society buys into those idiotic rules, anyone deemed a loser is shoved aside—"

"—Y'know you just inadvertently called yourself a loser, right? Wait, are you calling _us _losers too?"

"_So, _we want to pose some questions—" Shigaraki glared at Toru who merely grinned in response.

She was tired, hungry and on the point of—quite literally—blowing up; at this point, she didn't really give two fucks about what these villains thought of her; instead she was far more focused on how her feet burned like she had been walking on burning embers. "—What is a hero? What is justice? Is the society truly fair? Soon everyone will be asking, that's when we'll know we've won! And you like winning, _don't you?"_

"Well, _duh" _Toru rolled her eyes and ignored Bakugou's look for her to shut up, "Who doesn't like winning? But to answer your other questions: a hero is literally defined as someone who saves another, justice is moral revenge or vengeance taken upon someone—usually through the legal system. And for your final question, it's quite simple: society is and has always been chaos personified. It cannot be contained, cannot be controlled—no matter how much you want to—and doing so would be a total waste of effort. Why do you think we have religions? 'Cause more than 150 people in one group tends to make people go a _little_ nuts, hence the omnipotent & wrathful God(s)"

"And how would you know all that?" Twice questioned, going from interrogator to best friend in a split second. "I love it!"

"I have this magical thing called a brain! _Wah!"_

"Will you _shut up!" _Bakugou hissed at her.

"Y'know the only reason _your _in this mess is cause of your stupid catchphrases, right?" Toru turned as much as she could in her bindings to face Bakugou. "I mean, what hero yells 'die' or 'murder' or 'kill'? It's no wonder they picked you up, I mean, _c'me on!"_

"Yeah, and why'd they grab you then, _Sunshine?"_

_"What_ is it with you and nicknames?" Toru blatantly switched topics, bypassing the question. "Can you not remember anyone's real names? It's Toru! To-ru! T-O-R-U! Toru! Are you thick or something?"

_"Me? _What _dumbass_ spells out their name in front of villains?!" Bakugou nodded towards the group who were watching the childishly squabbling teens like it was a tennis match with varying looks of amusement.

"They already know who we are, _dumbass! _Or did you miss that bit when you were brooding? Huh?"

_"What d'ya say?!" _Bakugou seemed to be trying his best to keep his temper in check, despite Toru's needless taunts. His eyes narrowed on her bound figure and his nose twitched at something only he could smell. _Can he smell my burning flesh?_

"Hard of hearing?"

_"Fuck you!"_

"I'd rather not, thanks. Why don't you ask Kiri?"

"Wha—! You—!" Bakugou spluttered and choked on his spit as he burnt crimson.

"Thought so" Toru smugly sat back in her seat, looking very much like the cat that had caught the canary.

"Dabi" Shigaraki interjected, "Let 'em go"

"Huh? Y'know we'll just end up fighting?" Dabi retorted.

"It's fine!" Shigaraki sighed. "We're recruiting them, so we should treat them as equals. Besides, they're smart enough to know we can't _all _be taken on at once, right? After all, UA students are _so _clever"

"Hey Twice" Dabi then turned to the clone villain, "You do it"

"Sure thing!" Twice cheered before crossing his arms, "No way!"

_"Do it"_

"Aw man!"

"I do apologise for such forceful methods" Compress began as Twice set to work unchaining the two teens. "But please understand we aren't some kind of unruly mob committing crimes without a third act in mind. We didn't kidnap you by accident"

"Even though our backgrounds are different everyone here has suffered because of people, rules and heroes who try to hold us back. I'm sure you're the same" Shigaraki stalked forth as Twice moved from her to Bakugou, quickly freeing him.

"Quick question" Toru piped up as she pulled the hood off of the suit, and unzipping it, pushed it down to her waist. "Did you practise that speech in the mirror this morning or is this all just off the cuff?"

"I've about had enough of your little quips, _girlie. _Maybe we should just kill you" Shigaraki narrowed his gaze at the pulsating girl, now only wearing half the modified hazmat suit. Toru's eyes gleamed at the word 'kill' and before anyone could blink, she was up in Shigaraki's face, with a burning hand clasped around his throat. Her voice was silky smooth and her smug grin cat-like as the nails of her spare fist dug into her palm, cutting small crescents into the skin and pulling forth droplets of blood as she fought a losing battle against the pain. Well aware, that she was flickering in and out of sight, she tried to keep her expression as pain-free as possible when she replied, letting her pulsing hand burn the villain and his her pain as best she could. "Y'know Stain said the same thing" She let her eyes rove over to Spinner who had perked up at the mention of the deceased villain & his idol, "And then I _ripped out his beating heart" _Her gaze drifted over the tense forms of the villains around her, before coming to land back on Shigaraki. "Maybe I should do the same to you. What's one more, right?"

The room stood for a moment in tense silence as nobody dared move nor breath. Then—hyperaware as she was in that moment—Toru picked up the familiar whistling and wailing noise that came before Bakugou's explosions as he jumped into action. Quickly ducking out of the way, Toru was able to miss the explosion as Bakugou attacked the League of Villains figurehead and blasted him away.

"SHIGARAKI!" Twice cried as Toru popped up slightly behind Bakugou, and waited for the smoke to clear.

"I'm done listening to your endless babbling. Can you not get to the point or do you just like the sound of your own voice? Basically what you're saying is you want to cause some trouble and you want us to join you? Well,_ screw you!"_Bakugou snarled, standing squarely in front of his classmate whose lip had started to bleed when she bit to hard to hide the pain she was in. "I want to win, I wanna win just like All Might—!"

_"Again_ with the All Might obsession!" Toru muttered under breath with a roll of her eyes.

"—No matter _what _you have to offer me! That'll never change, do _you understand?!" _Bakugou continued on. "I'LL NEVER JOIN YOUR LEAGUE OF BASTARDS! WE MAY NOT BE AT CAMP, BUT I'M STILL ALLOWED TO FIGHT!"

"He must've figured they're important to us" Magne concluded, "What a clever boy"

"No, he's a fool" Dabi corrected.

"Let me stab him!" Toga pleaded.

"A clever performer would've acted like we were winning him over, now that he's broken character, he's finished" Compress added.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Toru muttered, suckling on her bleeding lip as her eyes roved over the tense forms in front of her. The door was at her back, but there was no way to flee without alerting the villains.

"I only ever do what I want to and I refuse to pretend otherwise—"

"—Wow, it's a wonder you passed your classes with that attitude—"

"—And I'm tired of being surrounded by a bunch of lame ass wannabes!"

"Fa~ther!" Shigaraki rasped, eyes still locked on the fallen hand and his own hand slowly raised.

Something which seemed to put Kurogiri on edge, and Toru knew if his own allies were worried then she should be too.

"NO! Shigaraki Tomura! Be calm!" Kurogiri ordered, his Quirk flaring to life in his controlled panic.

But instead of attacking like they had thought, he simply raised his arm out as if to stop the others from attacking the teens.

"Don't lay a finger on them, any of you" Shigaraki calmly bent down to retrieve the hand which had been blasted off of his face and reattached it over his nose. "These _heroes _are still valuable pieces. I wish you would've listened to what I had to say, I _thought _we could come to an understanding"

"What? You think we're the same?" Bakugou growled. "Not a chance!"

"Then I have no choice" Shigaraki sighed, "The heroes said they'd continue their investigation of our group, so we don't have time to stand here and talk. Master?" He turned to the TV which now displayed the words: _'AUDIO ONLY' _in neon purple lettering. "Lend me your power"

"A master, huh? I thought you were the boss around here but you're just a sidekick"

"Kurogiri, Compress it's time to put them back to sleep"

"What? Are you still pissy that I kicked you in the nuts?" Toru taunted as she watched Compress stride forward as he pulled at his gloves.

"Seriously?" Toga laughed as she leant over the bartop with a wicked grin on her face.

"Hey, if ain't broke" Toru shrugged nonchalantly.

_"Now" _Shigaraki stated sharply.

"Heh, I can't believe their such bad audience members" Compress sighed. "It's almost impressive"

"IF YOU WANT ME TO LISTEN, THEN GET ON YOUR KNEES AND BEG!" Bakugou yelled. _Our only reliable is exit is through the back door. _Toru's gaze slid over the room they were in as Bakugou kept the villains busy, _But that Kurogiri guy is quick on his feet. Who knows if we'll even get through the door if we get it open?_

** _KNOCK! KNOCK!_ **

"Er…" A masculine voice sounded through the back door and all eyes snapped to it with varying levels of confusion written across their features. "Hello? Pizza delivery" There was a beat of silence as everyone tried to figure out what was going on, before they had to suddenly duck away from the flying debris.

"SMASH!" All Might cried as he suddenly broke through the brick wall, sending debris flying everywhere.

"What the—?" Spinner cried from the floor as Toru sat up, coughing and hacking up the dust in her lungs. Above her, Bakugou stood—not quite touching—but sheltering her all the same. It seemed he still remembered her plea from earlier not to touch her, but had still moved to protect in that moment. Toru wasn't sure if he had even noticed he'd done it.

"Kurogiri! Gate!" Shigaraki ordered as the warp villain's Quirk flared to life.

"Preemptive Binding: Lacquered Chain Prison!" Kamui cried as he swung in after the blonde hero and wrapped the villains in his wooden limbs.

"Huh? That's it?" Dabi scoffed only to be thwarted by yet another hero, this one being the much older Grand Torino.

"Don't do anything foolish" Grand Torino kicked Dabi in the head, swiftly knocking him out. "It's in your best interest to co-operate with us"

"Just what I'd expect from a competent new hero!" All Might praised, "And a veteran pro who moves faster than the eye can see. You can't run anymore, League of Villains! Understand? Because we are here now!"

"Right after the press conference?" Compress exclaimed. "They had this ruse planned the whole time!"

"Tree man you're hugging me too tight!" Twice complained before his voice took on a husky tone,_ "Harder!"_

Off to the side, from the cracks of the closed back door emerged another hero: Edgeshot. "One tends to neglect defence when they're the offence. But we didn't come alone, take a look" Unlocking the door and swinging it open revealed rows upon rows of heavily armed officers in riot gear. _Did they all come for us? _Toru frowned, _Are we really that important? _"You're surrounded by the police, not to mention powerful heroes like Endeavour" _Eurgh! Not that guy!_

"Ah! You must've been scared! But you stayed strong" All Might turned to the two teens, "I'm sorry, you're safe now, young ones"

"…Was the monologue _really_ necessary?" Toru quirked an eyebrow up at the blonde hero as she tried her best to hide the pain she was in but unable to stop the hiss that escaped through her clenched teeth. Her invisibility leant itself to her in that moment, allowing her to hide the majority of her movements and facial expressions, but not all. Her question was left answered, and mostly drowned out by Bakugou who exploded next to her, lips still wobbling and wide eyes staring at the Symbol of Peace.

"WHAT?! I WASN'T SCARED! NOT EVEN CLOSE!" Bakugou shouted, though he wasn't really convincing anyone.

"KUROGIRI! WARP OVER AS MANY AS YOU CAN!" Shigaraki suddenly shouted from his bindings.

"The Nomu, right?" All Might sneered.

"What are you waiting for, dammit?!"

"I'm sorry, Shigaraki Tomura" Kurogiri bowed his head, "The Nomus were supposed to be in a fixed location, but…they're gone!"

"Huh?"

"It seemed you have a lot to learn, Shigaraki, you're still green" All Might clamped a heavy hand onto Bakugou's shoulder, as Toru remained seated on the floor at their feet. "You're little league underestimated all of us: the souls of these young heroes, the police's diligent investigations _and _our righteous fury!"

All Might's prideful decrees teetered out into static as Toru became more focused in on herself. By this point, sweat was pouring from her brow and the scene in front of her swayed and blurred, making her blink rapidly in an attempt to refocus. Shoving her palms into her eyes, she rubbed at them until fuzzy stars exploded at the corners of her vision and tears bled from the corners of her eyes as she tried to reassure herself that her deceased senses weren't seated at the bar. Even Shigaraki's retort went unheard as one of the multiple warp gates sprung up around her.

Pure darkness enveloped her already fading vision as treacle-like tentacles moved at a speed which should not have been possible. Swarming across her shoulders and down her legs, it enveloped her in its hold, diving deep into places it should not be as she was sucked inwards. Her nails dragged uselessly across the wooden flooring and a single yelp full of pain and terror escaped her as the last thing she saw was Yukimura-Sensei seated at the bar with a glass in her hand as she toasted to her late student.


	43. Rule #23

** _Rule #23: Never mess with a Hero's sidekick…if you want to live_ **

Feverish panting and coughing fell from Toru's lips as she spilled out of the darkness and onto the dusty ground someplace away from the bar. Gazing around through blurry vision, she noticed that there were no heroes in sight, only the League of Villains, Bakugou, herself and a well-dressed masked man that Shigaraki referred to as 'Master'—most likely the same one that he communed with through the television earlier that day.

Evening had fallen by now, casting the rubble-filled location in an eerie glow and the newly masked villain was the only thing illuminated by the light of the full moon amongst the lazily drifting dust clouds. Toru tensed as she propped herself upright, teeth clenched tight as she hissed out her pain. Whoever this 'Master' was, she had no intentions of finding out what he could do, however with her body the way it was, she may not have the choice.

Golden eyes followed Master's calm gait towards the crouched villain to her right. "So, you failed once more, Tomura?" His tone was almost scolding, like a parent to a child. "But you must not be discouraged, you'll try again, that's why I brought your associates back with you. Even if they were children of the Deity of Death—" Toru received a pet on her crown as the villain passed, making her turn her tearful gaze towards him as he came to a stop in front of Shigaraki with hand held out. "—And All Might; because you judged them to be important pieces on your game board. Start over as many times as it takes, I am here to provide you with help. All of this is for you"

A beat of silence rang through the dusty clearing before the villain turned from Shigaraki, his hand lowering as he did so. Casually turning to face the moon and bask in its light, he sighed as if he had just discovered his missing keys. "Ah, there you are"

"I'LL HAVE YOU RETURN MY STUDENTS, ALL FOR ONE!" All Might decreed as he suddenly reentered the picture in a blaze of glorified fury. Both of the punches he had fired were easily caught by the newly dubbed All for One.

"Have you come to kill me a second time, All Might?" All for One taunted, the shockwaves of All Might's entrance still radiating outwards from the two and whipping the area around them into chaos.

"ACK!" Toru cried as she was suddenly flung backwards alongside the others, the power of the aftershock ripping through the area like one of Bakugou's explosions. Her breath was knocked out of her when her back met the outcropping edge of some rubble, leaving her already breathless body to gasp in lungfuls of air. Across the battlefield, All for One's voice carried.

"It took you long enough to find us" All for One taunted as the smoke cleared to reveal him shaking out his fists and All Might who knelt a pace or two away. "It's only five kilometres from the bar to here, and _yet _it was at least thirty seconds after I sent the Nomu that you arrived. You've gotten weaker, All Might"

"You're one to talk!" All Might fired back as he rose to his feet, "Kind of difficult to ignore that fancy life support mask you've got on. Aren't _you _over exerting_ yourself?" _Winds whipped in circles around the two opponents and buildings leant precariously to either side in the wake of that one destructive hit. "I won't repeat the mistake I made five years ago, you hear me?! I will take my students back! And I will make certain you're locked up for the rest of your sad life! RIGHT ALONGSIDE YOUR DESPICABLE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS!"

"Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you, this will be hard for us both!" All for One replied as he reengaged All Might, this time using a torrent of compressed air that sent the Symbol of Peace sailing through the air and straight through the rows of buildings behind him. "Hm! Air cannon plus spring-like limbs" All for One mused, rolling his wrists "Kinetic booster times four, strength enhancer times three. What a delightful combination! Maybe a few more enhancers next time…"

Once again, Toru found herself cowering away from the onslaught of the shockwaves produced by the two overpowered Quirk users in front of her. What little breath she had regained was soon used to hack up the dust reentering her lungs. Nearby, Bakugou had pushed himself to his knees in a crouch, where the blonde then stared wide-eyed after his longtime idol as he sailed away. "All Might!" Bakugou cried in disbelief, only able to see the wake of destruction trailing in his wake.

"Don't you worry" All for One turned to Bakugou who unsteadily rose to his feet, "It'll take more than that to kill him" Almost instinctively, Toru's eyes flashed wickedly at the word 'kill' almost as if it had triggered her 'assassin-mode'. Shoving her mind-numbing pain down as far as it could go, she hauled herself to her feet, only just managing to prop herself up into an awkward crouch with the help of the piece of rubble behind her. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

All for One's attention shifted to Shigaraki for a moment as he ordered the bluenette to vacate the area, "Get off the battlefield, Tomura, and take those children with you" He simply raised an ungloved hand in the air as his blackened and veiny fingers shot out towards Kurogiri, impaling themselves in his unconscious form. "Kurogiri, warp them away"

"Be careful!" Magne interjected as he rushed forth, "One of the heroes messed with him and he's unconscious! I'm not sure what's going on, but if you can teleport, you don't _you _get us outta here?!"

"My warp power is still new, Magne, there is much I need to learn about it. It's distance is limited and while _he _can teleport to specific co-ordinates, I only transport people to and from my own location. Or—with focus— to or from someone I am very familiar with, that is all. It's easier to have Kurogiri do it—"

"What the—!" Magne jumped back from his comrade as the familiar warp gate sprung to life above him.

"—Forceful Quirk Activation"

"Holy hell!" Toru gasped watching only a sample of the villain's power come to life.

"Leave this place" All for One ordered.

"What about you?" Shigaraki questioned just as All Might's appeared from the rubble he had been tossed into, launching into the sky like a bird.

"You're not thinking, Tomura" All for One scolded as, he too, lifted into the air "There remains much room for you to grow"

"YOU'RE MINE!" Cried All Might sending a hefty blow towards All for One's head. Although this was easily blocked by a raised forearm. The two old acquaintances tousled in the air for a moment, before they became reacquainted with the ground and their fight continued in earnest.

"Master…!" Shigaraki murmured watching his teacher take on the Symbol of Peace without a single thought.

"Let's go, Shigaraki!" Compress said as he used his Quirk to suck his fallen comrades into the marbles in his pockets, "While our masked-leader is keeping All Might entertained. Claim your prize"

Compress' statement was all the warning the young heroes had. Toru had half a mind to slip the USB (still clutched in her hands) into her mouth as she rocked to her feet, gritting her teeth so hard against the pain that she thought they'd break. Stepping out of the large modified hazmat suit, she joined Bakugou by his side, listing only slightly even as she blinked rapidly against her dizzy vision and the numbness tickling at her legs.

"This is gonna be fun!" Bakugou grinned, dropping into a battle stance as he fell into his brashly confident default setting.

"YOUNG BAKUGOU! DON'T—!" All Might pushed himself away from All for One to stop the other fight before it began, but he never made it that far. All for One's tentacle-like fingers shot out and tried to wrap the blonde hero in tight bindings. In turn, both young heroes were set to work in dodging the onslaught on attacks from the rest of the villains. Where Bakugou was dodging Twice, Toga and Compress' attacks, Toru faced off against Spinner (who seemed to have a personal vendetta against once she had admitted to killing Stain) and Magne. Shigaraki remained off to the side just watching the scene play out with tight fists; almost like a child throwing a tantrum.

Toru refused to land a proper attack on the villains, not out of any sense of morality, but because she feared if she hit too hard or with too little control that she'd kill them. She could feel the ultraviolet light just beneath her skin, bursting to explode from her skin and the effort she had to enforce just to keep her bones from crumbling inwards was immense. _I…don't know…how much…longer…I can…take this! _She panted, sweat making her clothes stick to her skin.

Dancing out of the way of one of Magne's attacks, Toru found herself back-to-back with Bakugou surrounded by a ring of persistent villains. "SHIT! You're burning!" Bakugou exclaimed as his back briefly met hers, only to jump away when the heat of her Quirk made him spark uncontrollably.

"Gee? Really?…I hadn't…noticed!" Toru panted sarcastically around the USB still in her mouth.

"Oi! What is with you?!"

"Well, I can't feel my legs for one, and I'm pretty sure I'm going supernova, for two"

"What the hell is that?!"

"Bad…really…really bad" Toru dodged a kick from Spinner, "DUCK!" Spinning on her heel she launched a UV-powered punch towards Twice who had launched himself from a pile of outcropping rubble off to the side. No sooner had Bakugou ducked, did Twice let out a screech of pain full of agony.

"What the _fuck _was that?!" Bakugou demanded as he rose to his feet and watched with wide eyes as Twice writhed and thrashed on the ground in agony. Monstrous burn marks and harsh redness covered his skin like a rash.

"Like I…I said…really bad" Toru panted, dropping her hands to her knees as she panted and wheezed harshly. _This is nothing…like what happened…after Stain! Why…does it…hurt so…much?_

Before Bakugou could fathom a reply, a small wall across the way exploded as an oddly dressed trio of their peers appeared. Toru couldn't help but furrow her brows in puzzlement as she watched Midoriya & Iida hug Kirishima's sides as they entered the scene. A huge glacier of ice shot out from underneath the boys which they used as a runway to shoot themselves across the sky, pulling everyone's attention to them.

_"C'ME ON!" _Kirishima cried, holding out an arm to the two.

"Wha—_AHHHHHH!"_ Toru screeched when she felt herself get yanked skyward by her wrist. Sparks flew from the contact between the two teens as unstable UV met glycerine sweat, but Bakugou paid it no mind, instead using his free hand to launch them into the air with one of the largest explosions Toru had ever seen him create.

"_RAAAAAAAAAAH!" _Bakugou roared as the two sailed through the air, using smaller explosions to reach their classmates. "YOU IDIOTS!" He grinned unabashedly as his hand slapped into Kirishima's.

"Bakugou!" Iida called from Kirishima's right, "On my mark, you give us a giant—"

"Don't tell me what to do! Damn you!" Bakugou retorted.

"It's not the time to fight, guys!" Kirishima scolded, "Hagakure, are you okay?" The redhead spared a glance over his shoulder at the feverishly panting invisible girl who he could now see.

"U-ummm…" Toru's eyes had become glazed over by this point as she watched the world unfold around her. Down below, Magne had sent Compress and Spinner racing towards the fleeing heroes-in-training, only to be intercepted by Mount Lady who appeared just in time to block their magnetised attack from reaching the teens.

"E-er…" Rolling her head up towards her classmates, she just barely registered how their eyes bulged at her appearance, how they trailed over her guise like they had never seen her before. "Wait—You can see me?" Toru turned to her oddly-dressed peers, "Like flesh and hair and stuff?"

"Ye~ah…" Kirishima stretched out the word, "Are you all right?"

"Shit!" Toru exclaimed, eyes blown wide. "Lemme go! Lemme go!" Her body burned bright as she struggled in Bakugou's grip, making the blonde cry out in pain and in turn, causing him to drop her.

"HAGAKURE!" She heard Iida call as she free-fell a little ways before getting her feet underneath her.

Once upright, she shot up into the air like a rocket, trailing violet light behind her as she went. At some point during her abrupt flight, she had burnt through her remaining clothing which fluttered to the ground like wayward leaves, leaving her completely bare. She pushed herself as far as she could go—passing by her startled classmates who hung in the air with Bakugou dangling beneath them and wove around Mount Lady as she stumbled & fell to her knees, causing the earth to quake. Toru only got so far however, before her skin began to bubble and burn like a cauldron, the light surrounding her turning blinding as she finally began the last stages of the supernova.

Her body shook vigorously like it was seizing mid-air and her eyes rolled back into her head as her Quirk turned on her. Head pounding like a drum and heart jackhammering in her chest as if it were trying to escape and her skin bubbling like boiling water, she knew nothing but pain. From her flesh, burning spheres of solid ultraviolet burst forth like tiny little planets that sizzled in the air. Varying in number and size, the bunting masses filled the air around her and circled her thrashing form in rings upon rings.

Pain-filled screams ripped from her lungs as she burned and her body seized its rigorous shaking, only to be replaced with the feeling of her body folding inwards, of bones breaking and falling away. Faintly she could hear frantic and pained calls of her name, of someone crying in the distance…or maybe it was her? Was she crying? It wouldn't surprise her if she was. Pain filled her very core; it tore at her very being like she had never known anything else.

And then she imploded. Multicoloured lights burst from her center with an almighty boom, moving out in enormous shockwaves that burnt the tops of the tallest skyscrapers and melted the remaining cranes in her proximity. Though, that's not to say she was left unharmed: rashes of red scoured her arms and legs as they exploded up the limp limbs and crept across her cheeks like monstrous freckles. In some other mind, one might've even considered the dancing lights to be beautiful like the aurora borealis.

Soon enough, her heart began to stutter in her chest as it was no longer able to keep up with her Quirk, the tenacious hold she had on her conscious slipped through her fingers like water through a sieve. She seemed to hang in the air as deathly silence followed, only the fluttering of her heart in her chest could be heard as darkness finally exploded across her vision and her burning bones suddenly turned cold. Pale and limp, her lifeless body fell like a rock back to earth in a tangle of limbs and gasping breaths. True darkness enveloped her before she even hit the ground.


	44. Rule #10

** _Rule #10: Never get personally involved in a case_ **

** _"Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum  
_ ** ** _Ask not whence the thunder comes  
_ ** ** _Ask not where the stars have gone  
_ ** ** _Nor why the birds have ceased their song.  
_ ** ** _When coming home, don't take too long  
_ ** ** _For monsters roam in Avalon"_ **

_A young sickly Toru sat in her bed surrounded by her array of medical equipment, the most prominent being the oxygen tank decorated in sparkly stickers by her bed as she read from a small well-worn book._

_"Toru? What are you still doing up? It's late" Her mother, long-haired and beautiful despite the prominent bags under her eyes, stood in the doorway watching her youngest child read aloud, illuminated by the flashes of lightning outside the windows._

_"Sorry Mama" Toru bowed her head, but the book remained open in her lap "The Celestials woke me"_

_"Toru" Her mother sighed as she wandered into the bedroom, "It's just a storm"_

_"But Kenta says that the Celestials make the thunder! When they blow up our souls! See!" She gestured with the book in her hands._

_"Where did you find that?" Mother hedged._

_"Will you read the rest to me, Mama?" Toru fired back, puppy eyes wide and in full effect."Please?"_

_"Oh, alright! But just a little bit and then it's off to sleep, missy!" Mother sighed, coming to sit precariously on the edge of the bed, "Where were you up to?"_

_"The monks were trying to find God, so they made—"_

_"—Magic seeds, aye, I remember now" Shifting the small poetry book closer, Mother began to read aloud._

** _"The seeds they pulled from a magical pod  
_ ** ** _The monks grew a pathway to seek out their God  
_ ** ** _But when they came to what they thought was Heaven's Gate  
_ ** ** _They were met with a terrible, grisly fate.  
_ ** ** _For between heaven and earth was a perilous place  
_ ** ** _Etheria, home to a fierce Celestial race!_ **

** _With a bridge now before them to the world of men,  
_ ** ** _A horrible plague of Celestials descends.  
_ ** ** _Taking a cue from the richest of kings,  
_ ** ** _They acquired a taste for acquiring things.  
_ ** ** _But the one taste that caused them to lose all control  
_ ** ** _Was a taste for the mankind, blood, bones and soul!"_ **

_"Ewwww!" Toru grimaced at the image Mother painted as her voice took on an almost whimsical tone as she read._

_"Too scary, Toru?" Mother questioned, hoping that she could put the book away and send her youngest to sleep already._

_"Too gross! Who eats souls? Eurgh!"_

_"What about their leader? A terrifying Celestial with a starry crown?"_

_"Keep going, Mama! I'm not sca~red!" The slight crack at the end of her sentence suggested otherwise._

_"Mm, my hero!" Mother smiled, pressing a kiss to Toru's crown before she continued._

** _"Grandfather Aoi bade the monks return to Dark Arts  
_ ** ** _To find some way to rule Celestial hearts.  
_ ** ** _So they melted one down, mixed in magic and more  
_ ** ** _And they crafted a crown unlike any before"_ **

_"Great, great, great Grandfather's magic crown! This is my favourite part!" Toru squealed receiving a knowing smile in reply._

** _"As soon as Grandfather took the crown in hand,  
_ ** ** _The Celestials were slaves to his every command  
_ ** ** _He sent them back, to the place of their birth  
_ ** ** _Their home, now a prison between heaven and earth.  
_ ** ** _Aoi severed the link between Celestials and men,  
_ ** ** _And peace returned to the clan again_ **

** _The mystical relics were all that remained  
_ ** ** _Safe with Aoi through the years that he reigned.  
_ ** ** _And when time came at last for Grandfather Aoi to sleep,  
_ ** ** _He took crown and seed with him for permanent keep.  
_ ** ** _And as Grandfather's bones slowly crumbled away  
_ ** ** _Truth became legend—" Mother continued.  
_ ** ** _"—or say people say" Toru ended._ **

_"Right, time for bed, Missy" Mother rose to tuck her youngest into bed, making sure to dodge around the medical equipment._

_"What happens if the Celestials come back?" Toru worried, looking up at Mother who—at this point in time—held all in the answers in the world._

_"They won't, sweetie, not unless you don't go to sleep!" She teased, tweaking her nose in jest._

_"Mama! I'm serious!" Toru whined, settling against her pink pillows._

_"Toru, it's only a story, it's not real"_

_"But great, great, great Grandfather Aoi was real!"_

_"He was, and in some ways, he still is—you're his great, great, great granddaughter after all!"_

_"But the stories—!"_

_"It's just a warning about going supernova, you know this"_

_"I know, Mama, 'M sorry" Toru bowed her head below the blanket's edge when Mother's tired tone took on a sharp edge._

_"Goodnight, Toru" Mother sighed, pressing another kiss to her crown before rising to turn off the lights and leaving the room illuminated in glow-in-the-dark stars._

_"Mama, how—how do you know Celestials aren't real?" Toru hedged, peeking out from beneath the blanket._

_"…I don't" Mother admitted "Now go to sleep!"_

_No sooner had her bedroom door been pulled shut and the shuffling footsteps of her mother faded away, Toru reached around her oxygen tank and grabbed the book where it had been placed on the nightstand. Next she snatched a torch hidden from beneath her pillow and pulled the blankets over her head as she read the rest written there._

** _"…And jealous eyes are looking down  
_ ** ** _On peaceful fields in Avalon  
_ ** ** _An enemy vows will come a day  
_ ** ** _When Celestials return and Celestials stay.  
_ ** ** _To wage a war, and this time win  
_ ** ** _And devour the last of Aoi's kin._ **

** _But do not grow soft in the peace, they warned,  
_ ** ** _For in years to come, or so they say  
_ ** ** _The Celestials will return to reap their pay.  
_ ** ** _Aoi's kin shall walk the earth  
_ ** ** _Even upon Avalon's second birth._ **

** _So beware my child, of Celestials above  
_ ** ** _Beware of their wrath and puppets below.  
_ ** ** _They come, they come, for our great glorious souls  
_ ** ** _And when the time comes for you to burn bright,  
_ ** ** _Beware my child of Celestial might!"_ **

Blinking away the last remnants of her dream, Toru found herself staring up at the dirty white-tiled ceiling of her room. An oxygen mask sat snugly over her face & the uncomfortable feeling of a breathing tube was shoved down her throat. Topped off with the persistent beeping of medical equipment sounded in her ears. It was so familiar that she almost thought she was nine years old again, laying in a hospital bed and waiting for the inevitable denial of another heart.

She blinked languidly as her head rolled to the right where her hand was entrapped in a dozing Hitoshi's ones. His usually messy hair had curled up into little ringlets like it did when it was wet and his face lay buried in his arms as he tucked his head next to her side on the hospital bed. Rolling her head to the left, she found her greying mother camped out in the chair next to her, using the edge of her bed as her footrest. _Mama's…here? _She puzzled. The last time Toru had seen her mother was back at the beginning of the year, when she had moved in with her father's parents.

Through the curtain of get-well balloons tied to the end of her bed and an assortment of stuffed toys sitting at her feet, she could see that the supposedly empty hospital beds across from her were occupied by her chain-snoring grandfather and her lanky brother. Another series of languid blinks later, she registered that the room was illuminated by only the moonlight shining through the window, the lights on in the hallway and the industrial UV spotlight that stood at the foot of her bed. It was a stark difference from the last time she had woken atop the hospital's roof.

Approaching footsteps caught her attention and she sluggishly met the eyes of a tired Oishii who held a tray of steaming drinks in his hands, who stared at her dumbly like he couldn't understand what he was seeing. Raising her free hand, Toru wiggled her fingers at him and a tired smile spread across her lips from behind the oxygen mask. That seemed to kick him into gear.

"Ohmygod! Toru! You're okay!" He whispered rushing forth to place the drinks on the nightstand, "I should get the nurses—" He rushed back to the doorway before spinning on his heel, "—Wait! Maybe I should wake your mother—!" He turned back to her sleeping mother, before turning back to the doorway again with a look of indecision on his face that made her chuckle. In the end, the small commotion between the two was enough to rouse her mother from her awkward sleeping position anyway.

"Ugh!…" Mother groaned hoarsely, cracking her back as she sat upright and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "What are you doing up, brat?" She turned to Oishii who still stood in the dimly lit doorway.

"Um…" Oishii appeared at a loss for what to say…that or he was scared of her mother. If Toru had to guess, it was probably a bit of both.

Taking pity on him, Toru patted at her mother's arm making the woman snap around to face her daughter with wide disbelieving eyes. "She's awake…" Oishii pointed dumbly to the invisible girl.

"My baby…" Mother murmured, cautiously caressing her daughter's cheeks as if she were going to break. "You're okay…!"

"Ngh!" Toru gave a soft grunt around the tube in her throat as Oishii chose that moment to go and fetch a nurse.

"What the _hell _were you thinking?!" Mother suddenly whacked her across the back of the head, careful not to dislodge the oxygen mask or knock the tube.

_"Ngh!" _Toru grunted, rubbing at the back of her head where she had been hit and glaring at her mother as if to say, 'what was that for?'

"You _know_ what that was for!" Mother pointed a finger at her, easily reading her expressions. "How many times have I told you _not _to go that far?"

"Nnn!" Toru furrowed her brows into a look of disbelief as she tried to convey how it wasn't her fault.

"Oh? So who should I blame then? The villains?"

"Uh huh!" Toru nodded vigorously.

"I've told you—!"

"Ma—" Kenta groaned tiredly from the other bed as he rolled over, his long legs becoming tangled in the crisp hospital sheets, "Stop yelling at Sensei…! And go to sleep!" Toru winced at that, well-aware of her mother's infamous argumentative abilities. There was a reason she had wanted to be a lawyer when she was younger.

"I'll deal with him later" Mother retorted with a huff, crossing her arms childishly and stomping her foot like a petulant child, "But right now, your sister is going to explain_ what happened?!"_

"Yeah, yeah—" Kenta nodded tiredly, barely registering the words. When he did, he bolted upright and glanced over at the bed where his younger sister now lay awake. "—Wait! What? Sparkles! You're awake!" He fell from the bed and landed on the floor with a thud before he sprang to his feet and raced over. At the same time, Toru scrunched her nose up at the use of the childish and embarrassing nickname.

Thankfully before the two could really start in on her, Oishii returned with a nurse who introduced herself before shooing her conscious relatives away so she could remove the God-awful breathing tube in her throat. A fair amount of gagging followed—from both Toru & Kenta—before the oxygen mask was placed back over her nose and mouth, just in case. Next, Toru tiredly ran through a couple of basic check-ups before the nurse instructed her to rest some more, and more or less ordered her mother to halt on the interrogation, at least until morning.

* * *

The next time Toru woke up, the sun was blaring in through the window and her room was mercifully empty. The sticky note stuck to her forehead told her that her grandfather had herded everyone down to the cafeteria for lunch & to push the call button if she ever needed anything.

The nurse who had tended to her in the middle of the night returned, this time with a starch-coated doctor who explained what had happened to her. It was so much to take in—the damage she sustained, the overload of her Quirk & subsequent supernova, the heart attack, the aftermath, what she would have to do going forth, adapting to her 'new' Quirk and so on. It soon became too much and she felt herself begin to become—quite literally—hot under the collar.

Flinging herself from the hospital bed & untangling herself from the various wires and tubes, she dodged the attempts to get her back into bed and dove for the door. Brushing by startled staff and wandering family members, Toru pushed open the first door she could find, it just so happened to be an empty bathroom. Leaning against one of the porcelain sinks she stared into the mirror with a look of disbelief and horror at what she found.

Patches of her skin flared to life beneath the purple light that bubbled there, almost like lightning was dancing beneath her skin and illuminating the veins within. Her eyes—once golden—bled violet in the dimly-lit bathroom and where her hands had met solid porcelain only moments, now hovered above sunken and melting china.

"Sparkles?" Kenta's voice followed tentative knocks on the door, having followed his sister's path to the bathroom. "Sparkles? Are you all right? Toru?"

"Go away!" Toru cried, her voice hoarse and thick with unshed tears as she stared at the freak she had become.

"Toru?"

"GO AWAY!" She sobbed, collapsing against the far wall away from the warped mirror and broken sink. Her heart beat loudly in her chest, overtaking all sounds except for her rasping gasps of breath. Great heaving sobs turned to gasps as her breath came in short bursts and tears blurred with he snot dripping from her nose as panic took hold.

Everything around her faded away and she barely registered the bathroom door banging open a few moments later as Oishii rushed in with Kenta hot on his heels. She didn't see as her senior ripped the well-worn Eraserhead t-shirt over his head, revealing the multitude of hungry mouths that dotted his skin. Curling in on herself, Toru moved away from the tentative movements of her brother as a violet bubble of light encircled the girl in a cocoon; encroached only by the harmless firefly-like orbs floating about the room.

"Sparkles?" Kenta hedged, shuffling as close as he dared, "Look at me, look at me. Toru, I need you to look at me, okay?" Slowly tearful eyes full of fear emerged from the crook of her elbow and turned to face him. Her red eyes and tear-tracked cheeks pulled at his heartstrings, unable to see his baby sister this way. "Hey, Toru?" He continued keeping his voice soft as he watched her heave in gasping breaths, "What are five things that you can see?"

"Wha—?" Toru gasped.

"C'me on! You know the drill, what's five things you can see?"

"B-b-brother…" She stammered. "F-friend"

"Take your time, Toru" Oishii encouraged, crouched on her other side as a tongue from the mouth adorning his chest lolled out like an over-eager puppy.

"T-toilet, d-door, s-s-sink"

"And four things you can touch?" Kenta continued.

"No—!" Toru's eyes blew wide at the instruction and breathing picked up once more.

"C'me on Toru, four things you can touch…" Oishii held out his hand to her, palm-mouth facing up.

"…F-friend…" Toru cautiously placed her shaky hand in Oishii's; jolting only slightly when the mouth on his palm began to suckle at her Quirk like a newborn.

"Keep going, Sparkles" Kenta urged.

"Sh-shirt—" She clenched her spare fingers into the loose hospital gown she was shrouded in, "—F-floor—" Here a foot untucked itself from the ball she had curled into and she spread her toes out against the cold dirty tiles. "—B-brother" Next her spare hand threaded through the translucent fingers of her sibling.

"And three things you can hear?" Kenta tried to hide his wince at the power radiating from Toru as he held her hand.

"T-tap—" Toru heaved a sigh, her breath slowly starting to calm as she went through the familiar steps to calm herself. "—Pipes, Mama"

"And two things you can smell?"

"Soap & shit"

"Is that what that was?" Oishii scrunched up his nose in disgust as the scent was identified, "Eurgh! Gross!"

"And one thing you can taste?" Kenta shot a quick glare towards the pinkette before turning back to his younger sister.

"Uh…" Toru's eyes roved back and forth as she tried to find something she could taste,

"Here"

"Oh" Toru took the offered citrus lollipop from her brother and stuck in her mouth without a second thought. "Lollipop"

There was a beat of silence as no one moved, save for Toru who sucked on the lollipop and resolutely stared at the dirty floor beneath them. She was breathing easier now, but the light surrounding her had yet to disappear. "Sparkles?" Kenta shared a glance with Oishii, "Sparkles? Are you okay? Does it hurt?"

"N-no" Toru replied around the lollipop as she shook her head, "I just can't…stop it"

"Okay, c'me 'ere" Oishii let his feet fall out from under him as his ass met the cold floor and mouthy arms encircled the small girl, bringing her to his chest. "It's okay, I got you" He reassured when Toru began to struggle. The mouths adorning his skin opened up and—much like earlier—latched onto anywhere they could find, suckling at her Quirk like a newborn, draining it away until it could become stable once more.

With her head tucked beneath Oishii's chin and head buried in his chest, she missed the arrival of Bakugou & Rio as they entered the co-ed bathroom with flowers and card in hand to find their friend huddled up on the dirty floor. With the arrival of her peers, Kenta moved out of the bathroom and off to find a figure of authority who could get the situation under control, leaving the blonde cousins to squat down next to the pair still seated against the back wall.

"What the hell are you doing on the bathroom floor, Sunshine?" Bakugou puzzled as his nose scrunched up at the smell permeating around them.

"N-nothing…" Toru mumbled, curling up tight in Oishii's arms like a young child.

"Ah well, I don't blame ya, you're mother's in fine form this afternoon" Rio added, coming to sit next to her cousin, "She's absolutely ripping into ya sensei—keeps going on about supernovas, lax security and stupid brats"

"I am _not stupid!" _Bakugou snarled.

"I wasn't talking about _you" _Rio flicked his forehead. "But good to know where you're head's at" Toru couldn't help the small smile that spread across her lips at there sibling-like interaction between the two blondes.

"Yeah, well who _did_ you mean then?"

"Who do you _think?" _Rio gestured to the invisible enveloped in violet fireflies.

"Is that what happened to you?" Bakugou turned to Toru. "When you exploded?"

Toru leant into Oishii, hiding herself from the blondes' questioning gazes, but neither Rio nor Bakugou were ones to be easily persuaded, even now. Both blondes sat to her left, with varying looks of concern and intrigue plastered across their faces.

"Hagakure—Toru—what did they _mean?"_ Bakugou tried again.

"…Going supernova…is…extremely dangerous…" Toru admitted as she fiddled with her hands, refusing to meet anyone's eyes, "There's no telling what can happen to you—before, after or during. Of—of the fifteen of my family members who _did_ go supernova, only two survived" She sniffed, wiping her nose with a swipe of her thumb, "The first, aborted just in time and received minimal damages. The second, saw it out until the end, surviving everything, even the…aftermath"

"…Who were they?" Oishii hedged from above her, his chin resting atop her crown as Bakugou seemed to be digesting the information.

"My great grandfather was the first—he was the one who aborted just in time— and as a result his secondary Quirk became permanent; an eternal active Quirk—more like a mutation, y'know?" Toru sighed, hunching herself into a smaller ball. "The second was my father. He—he survived the entire event, at least for a good hour or two and then died due to his injuries. I never met him"

"Oh…What—what does that mean for you, then?" Rio sniffed, tears gathering in her eyes as a story began to come together.

"It means that I might need to invest in some quality gloves—" Toru huffed a sarcastic laugh, "—And that I'm lucky to be alive… Tears dripped from her eyes as she continued, but her lips seemed unable to stop what was spilling from them. At some point she registered the bathroom door opening again as Aizawa came to rest in the doorway, just quietly listening to her little tale.

"The—the nurse said the only reason I really survived is because I went into cardiac arrest halfway through the event…I—I shouldn't be alive…" She heaved a shuddering sigh that rattled through her lungs, "Not that it matters anyway"

"Wha-! How can you say that!" The fiery blonde suddenly grew enraged at the self-deprecating attitude.

"Bakugou," Toru met his gaze head on for the first time that afternoon, "Transplantees only live a certain amount of time after they receive their transplants"

"So what?" He deflated. "Are you dying or something?"

"Or something" She sighed, "If I'm lucky, I'll make it to graduation, maybe a couple of years after, but that's it"

"Well, can't you get another—whatever? Tell 'em your a hero, or something"

"It doesn't work like that. You could throw around all the names and money you like, but you've still got sit on a waiting list, become a match and even then the family has to agree to the donorship, and by that point I'd be dead anyway. So, what's the point?"

"You sound like you're giving up already" Rio pointed out. "Like you're scared of even trying…"

"I'm not upset, and I'm not scared, not of death anyway" Toru fiddled with her fingers, "…I just…I dunno…thought maybe I'd be lucky or something, maybe get a little more time…"

"Are your family aware of this?" Aizawa softly spoke up, his drawl echoing around the small bathroom.

"Yeah…yeah, they know" Toru nodded, collapsing back against Oishii's chest. "Kenta & 'Toshi kinda just ignore it, y'know? They tend to just pretend that nothing's wrong. I dunno 'bout Ma…she kinda just complains about it a lot…and Gramps is kinda…stuck in his own thing at the mo', so y'know…" She shrugged helplessly. "It's there, but it's not there kinda thing. It's more like, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it"

"…Is there really nothing you can do?" Rio sniffed.

"It's just how it is" Toru sighed, "Unless you got a spare heart lying around?"


	45. Rule #13

** _Rule #13: Never, ever involve lawyers_ **

Following the very tear-filled wake-up call at the hospital after her…incident, Toru was released into her family's care with very specific instructions to take things slow over the next couple of weeks and a handy little heart monitor to boot. During those weeks, her mother and brother set up camp in one of the spare rest homes at the retirements village to take care of her. Despite it being probably one of the few places that was well-equiped for that kind of thing, her mother insisted that they stay and help. Neither her Grandfather nor Toru had any say in the matter.

So it was that two weeks later, Toru found herself in the large bingo hall cheering her brother on as he faced off against some of the elderly residents in an old video game that Toru (with the aid of Ritsu) had managed to—somewhat legally—download and project up onto one of the walls. Granny Wilkins was kicking Kenta's ass at the racing game (much to his dismay) when her mother called for Toru to join her & her teachers outside.

"Mama?" Toru puzzled over the consistent beeping of her heart monitor (she had been forced to wear it for the first couple of weeks of rest & was looking forward to taking it off soon). When she came close, she saw that both Aizawa & All Might were there dressed nicely in their civilian forms. Toru also noticed that whilst as Aizawa was eyeing the heart monitor at her waist, All Might was warily eyeing her mother and she had no doubt that the nullification hero had warned him beforehand. "What's going on?"

"Your senseis want to tell you something" Mother replied sharply, turning the spotlight on the two startled men as they wandered through the gardens. Toru suspected she took great joy in doing so.

"Yeah…?" Toru hedged, a little nervous about what this house call was about. Sure, she could guess, but the notice that had come through about the dorm rooms for the first years had caused a fair amount of tension in the Hagakure household, and it had only just started to die down.

"In a manner of safety, we're asking that all first years are moved into the newly built dorms on campus" Aizawa started the spiel as the quartet walked through the overgrown gardens.

Toru winced as she watched out the corner of her eyes as her mother's expression contorted into what she liked to call 'Lawyer Mama.' Shoulders back, spine straight, arms clasped behind her back and face blank as she moved with sharp bird-like movements. Toru spared a glance over her shoulder to see how far they were away from the main hall and wondered if they were too far for anyone to come and save her from this undoubtedly awkward situation. From the way Aizawa tensed, she was sure that he had noticed too or at least was recalling how he had been on her receiving end only weeks prior.

"C'me on Mama, what's the alternative?" Toru cut in before her Mother could steamroll the topic and send her teachers packing."Stay in retirement 'til I die? Go back to the compound?"

"Or you could come back to Tokyo with us!" Mother retorted, all elegance of 'Lawyer Mama' gone as she turned on her daughter with the same protective ferocity from the past couple of weeks.

_"Mama!"_

"If I may…" All Might tried.

"What?!" Mother snapped turning of the former Symbol of Peace with a crazed look in her eye, "What could you possibly have to say?! Huh? It's only been one semester—one!—and they've already been attacked at school & camp, they were confronted by Nomus during internships & let's not forget about the hero killer! Oh and being kidnapped by said villains & nearly getting killed in every single situation!"

"Mama, it's not that bad…"

"Not that bad? _Not that bad?! _You were in safer hands last year when you were trying to _kill your teacher!"_ Mother fired over her shoulder but still keeping the two heroes in her sights.

"Uh…yeah" Toru deflated with a wince before nodding in agreement.

"So tell me, why is corralling them together the safest option? Hm?" Mother eyed the cowering heroes before her.

"We're not cattle!" Toru protested weakly.

"Shut up, the adults are talking" Mother ordered, her tone sharp.

"Yes ma'am" Toru ducked her head & quieted immediately.

"Just" Mother heaved a sigh, calming slightly as her hackles lowered slightly. "Just give me one good reason"

"Uh…well—" All Might spared a glance towards Aizawa, who gave him a look as if to say 'you're on your own'. He didn't get very however before the sudden appearance of her grandfather. Toru tried to hide another wince as she shifted on her feet, a little unnerved by how such a stocky man moved with a quietness that was unbecoming of someone his age and internalising how quickly the shit was going to hit the fan.

"—Mio, are you bullying these young men again?" Grandfather inquired, leaning over his cane.

"Dad!" Mother turned on her heel with arms crossed as her elderly father slowly joined the huddle in the gardens. "I'm making a point!"

"Uh huh" Grandfather raised a bushy eyebrow, "And in this point, did you include the brat's victories?"

"Victories—? Dad! This is serious—!"

_"—Mio—"_ Grandfather banged his walking cane against the concrete like gavel, silencing her "—Who learnt how to break a man more ways than you could count?"

"…" Mother turned her head to the side and refused to answer like a petulant child.

_"Who,_ Mio?" Grandfather pushed.

"…Toru" Mother grit out.

_"Who_ killed their teacher before they were sixteen?"

"Toru"

"And who went an entire year without telling you who broke the Sacho's boy?"

"Toru"

"You're making me sound like a criminal!" Toru whined off to the side, only to receive a whack on the back of the legs from his cane. "Ow!"

"But Dad—!" Mother tried again.

"You need to consider both sides of the story, Mio, not just the bits you like. Honestly, what kinda lawyer are ya?" Grandfather shook his head in disappointment before turning to the heroes still standing there watching the show."You!" Grandfather then gestured with his cane towards All Might, "This fesspot of teens, 's it secure?"

"Yessir" All Might warily eyed the cane in his gnarled hands.

"And medical care?"

"The school nurse is no more than five minutes away, sir"

"Extra fees?"

"None, sir"

"Then I see no reason why she can't go" Grandfather shrugged as if to say 'there you go'

_"Dad—!" _Mother whined, arms crossed. Toru bit her lip as she pictured her mother stomping her feet like a child.

_"Enough _Mio, she's not Obi"

"She's not Aoi either!"

"I know. She's Toru & she's got her own path ahead o' her. Ya can't baby 'er forever, ya need to let her go"

"…Fine. But I want the record to show that I don't like this"

"Ya don't have ta like it, ya just have ta live with it. 'Sides Tori was giving me 'the eyes' earlier & I'm feelin' lucky!"

_"Gramps!" _Toru shuddered with cheeks stained red, feeling disgusted at the insinuation.

"What's wrong kiddo? C'me on! Give your Gramps a kiss!" Grandfather taunted, shuffling forth with open arms.

"Ack!" Toru cried as she stumbled over herself in order to get away, the old man laughing jovially after her. And that was that. Both her bewildered teachers were walked to the gates laden with more cakes and sweets that they'd probably never eat and swept away in a nondescript black car. Toru later thanked her grandfather with a hug and the biggest cake she had ever made (the pudding from junior high didn't count—it was a_ pudding_, not a _cake)._

* * *

Erupting from the ground not five minutes (walking distance) from the UA campus, the new Heights Alliance dormitory building sat cluttered amongst the other older terracotta dormitories. The impressive structure stood five stories tall and had been constructed within the three days it took to gather permission from all the students' families. The large sign that held their class allocation shined down on the students of said class, as they waited for their teacher to arrive and let them inside their new home-away-from-home. You could practically feel the excitement rolling off of the students in waves as they stood buzzing with anticipation.

"Given everything that has happened" Aizawa began when he finally arrived, standing in front of the class and the doors to the dorms. "I'm glad we were able to bring Class A back together"

"And we all got the go-ahead to move on campus!" Sero cheered.

"Only with a lot of convincing from Grandfather" Toru sighed, recalling the incident with a shudder.

"I was pretty concerned about mine" Jiro agreed.

"It makes sense" Ojiro piped up, "You got kidnapped & the worst of the gas attack"

"We're glad to see the teachers got to come back too" Croaked Asui, "I was afraid you wouldn't be allowed. The people at the press conference seemed pretty upset with you guys"

"Yeah," Ochako nodded.

"I was surprised as well" Aizawa agreed, "But circumstances have changed. Now then, I'll explain how your dorm assignments will work shortly, but first, we haven't forgotten about the provisional licences you were supposed to get during the training camp"

"Oh yeah!" Sato exclaimed, "That's what we were there for!"

"So much has happened since, it kinda just slipped my mind" Mina agreed.

"This is important" Aizawa continued, "Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, Midoriya & Iida. You five are the ones who broke the rules and went to rescue Bakugou & Hagakure that night"

"Ribbit…" Asui murmured as the rest of the class remained silent. A few refused to meet his gaze, whilst others shuffled nervously in place.

"Hm…based on your reactions, I assume the rest of you were at least aware of their plan" Aizawa eyed each student with narrowed eyes, "I'm going to set aside a number of issues and just say this: if it weren't for All Might's retirement from the hero scene, I would _expel _everyone here except for Bakugou, Jiro & Hagakure"

Eyes widened and gasps swept through the class at the admission, none of them knowing just _how _close they had come to expulsion. "There was the five of you who went, of course, but also the remaining twelve who didn't stop them. You betrayed our trust, even if it was to prevent your friends from getting into trouble. In order to regain our confidence, you'll need to obey every rule to the letter & live as model students"

_Every rule? _Toru thought. _But some of them are completely bogus!_

"That's all" Aizawa dropped the serious tone and turned to lead them inside, "Now, look alive, enjoy your new home"

The entire class seemed to deflate at the less than elegant dismissal, the once excited environment turning into something a little more depressing. At least until Bakugou snatched the back of Kaminari's shirt and dragged him off behind the bushes that bordered the front of the property. "Tch. C'me 'ere" Bakugou muttered as all eyes turned to the retreating pair.

"Uh…uh, wait! For what?" Kaminari stammered. There was a beat of silence as nothing happened, until Kaminari suddenly released a charge of wattage that was so large it illuminated the foliage around him. When the two returned to their gathered classmates, Kaminari—dumb & dopey—was deposited in front worried & laughing classmates.

"Dude! What did Bakugou do to you?!" Sero exclaimed as Jiro burst into not-so-muffled laughter.

"Kirishima" Bakugou strode up to the red head and presented him with cash. "Here"

"WHOA! DID YOU SHAKE HIM DOWN FOR CASH?!" Kirishima exclaimed staring at the money with wide eyes.

"NO!" Bakugou snarled, "This is _my _money, you idiot, to replace what you spent"

"Uh…how'd you know I bought night vision goggles?" Kirishima just dumbly stared at him.

"Hn" The blonde shoved the money into his friend's chest when he didn't move to take the offered money. "Don't say I never gave you anything; now I'm not in your debt. Kaminari—show 'em your dumb side!"

Toru watched over her shoulder as Bakugou headed towards the dorm with the laughter of his classmates trailing after him and Kaminari played the part of class clown. She barely heard Kirishima's muttered thanks over Kaminari's gibberish as she watched the front doors swing open & then shut, wondering if she should have done something for those who came to get them. "SORRY EVERYONE!" Kirishima piped up, "I KNOW THIS WON'T MAKE UP FOR IT, BUT LET'S ALL GO OUT TO EAT TONIGHT! ON ME!"

The crows of praise in response at the idea were soon cut short however when the first trickle of students made their way inside, after the explosive blonde. When the wooden doors creaked open, the students were greeted to the sight of Aizawa's five cats lounging around as if they already owned the place. Hinata barely plucked an eye open to stare at them before going back to sleep in the sun patch he'd found. Gathered in the main room on the first floor, Toru couldn't help but let her eyes wonder over everything that she could see. Her feet wandered aimlessly throughout the layout and she opened random doors & cupboards as Aizawa explained how this was going to work.

"Each student dormitory holds one class: girls are on the right and boys are on the left. The entire first floor is a common area; that's where you'll find your kitchens, baths & laundry room" Aizawa stood in the doorway as 1-A inspected their new home. A series of couches, televisions & tables scattered around them room with the bathrooms located down a hallway from the back corner of the room & the kitchens next to the dining area.

"Ahh! Hehe!" Toru gasped in awe as she stared out at the view that a wall of windows held.

"There's even a courtyard!" Sero smiled next to her.

"So spacious & new!" Mina exclaimed.

"I'm living in a mansion!" Ochako swayed.

"Uraraka!" Iida turned quickly to catch his friend before she hit the floor.

"Doth mine ears deceive me?" Mineta drooled in the corner. "Our baths…are located in the common space? Is this heaven?"

"They're _separated _by gender" Aizawa growled, "And you'll _behave _yourself!"

"…Yessir"

"Living quarters start on the next floor—" Their teacher then gathered them together on the second floor so they could inspect the empty dorms on that floor for themselves. "—Four boys & four girls on each level. Everyone gets their own room, so you should be comfortable" Clicking open the nearest door so they could all peer in, he continued. "You've got your own AC's, toilets, fridges & closets"

"We have balconies?!" Midoriya peered around Kaminari as he danced like a loon on the balcony. "Wow!"

"This room is about the same size as my closet at home" Yaoyorozu commented, making Toru's eyes bulge at the statement as she inspected the en suite. "But I'll manage"

"It's the size of my house!" Ochako swayed again, sharing her sentiment.

"Uraraka!" Once again Iida caught her, looking very annoyed.

"These are your dorm assignments—" Aizawa brandished a crisp white sheet of paper with all of their names & numbers on it, catching their attention once more. The second floor (which they were currently on) held only four boys: Mineta, Midoriya, Aoyama & Tokoyami. The third floor was occupied by Kouda, Kaminari, Iida, Ojiro, Jiro & Toru. The fourth floor was made up of Shouji, Kirishima, Bakugou, Ochako & Mina. And the final floor contained Sato, Todoroki, Sero, Yaoyorozu & Asui. There was a short note at the bottom of the page which told them that Aizawa's room was on the first floor, tucked away in one of the spare rooms next to the kitchen. "—The belongings you sent ahead have already been placed in your new rooms so spend the rest of the day unpacking & getting settled. I'll tell you more about your next few lessons tomorrow. For now, get to work"

"Yessir!"

Trudging up the next flight of stairs, Toru made her way to her allocated dorm room. Much like the other ones they had inspected, the room was bare save for the boxes she had sent ahead and the door to the balcony had been left open to let the air circulate. Rolling her sleeves up and clapping her hands, Toru stood ready and rearing to go. "Let's get to work!"


	46. Rule #20

** _Rule #20: Always look underneath the underneath_ **

When evening fell after Toru had finally finished unpacking the last of her boxes, she fell back onto her made bed as she let the sounds of _Thirsty Merc_ wash over her. Blinking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that lay scattered across the ceiling, she sighed happily at how the fairy lights strung up around the room twinkled against them and cast the room in a soft glow.

Now decorated to her liking, the dorm room gave off a cozy feeling that she enjoyed—especially since she had painted the back wall (the one surrounding the balcony) a nice lavender colour. Off in the corner the remnants of the cardboard boxes which had been squashed down and piled next to the door so she would hopefully remember to recycle them or put them away at some point.

At some point during the afternoon—after the class had returned from their dinner outing—she had exchanged her school uniform for her brother's oversized football shirt that was tucked into a pair of silky periwinkle pyjama shorts and sat beneath her unzipped PE tracksuit jacket. The knee-high multicoloured woollen socks she had pulled on later, now slouched around her calves and made for a very odd, but comfortable outfit.

A knock on her door pulled her from her thoughts & Toru answered it to find Mina & the other girls standing there as promised, each in their own loungewear. Sharing a smile with the pinkette, she followed after the girls as they made their way down to the first floor for snacks & to find something to do. "What do you think we should we do now?" Mina asked as they descended the stairs.

"I dunno" Toru shrugged, "Personally, I don't wanna run around at the moment, but we should still do something fun!"

"Ooh, I kinda wanna see what everyone's rooms look like! Do you think they'd let us?" Jiro asked.

"We could do some kind of competition! That'd be fun!" Ochako added, eyes blazing in competitiveness.

"But what if they don't want to do it?" Yaoyorozu piped up from the back.

"Well, they don't all have to join in" Toru replied over her shoulder, "Don't you wanna do something stupid like this for the fun of it? And it'd be kinda nice to stuff like before" She didn't need to clarify what she meant, they all knew.

Turning the corner into the main room, they found some of the guys lounging around as they relaxed after unpacking everything. "…could've died, but it's kinda exciting to be living here!" Kaminari was saying, now back to normal.

"Mmhm!" Midoriya nodded.

"A unified class! It's the perfect way to increase our cooperation and discipline! How smart!" Iida exclaimed.

"So you never relax, do you?" Kirishima asked over the back of the couch.

"Hiya boys!" Mina interjected, announcing their presences, "All done with your rooms?"

"Yep! We're just unwinding now!" Kaminari replied with a thumbs up.

"Well, the girls & I have been talking and—" Mina started.

"—We have a _great _idea!" Toru ended.

"Let's go around & see who has the coolest room!"

"…Huh?" All the boys seemed to grow cold at the idea, but the girls steamrolled on with Toru & Mina at the helm.

A panicky Midoriya was first up, waving his arms and screeching like a banshee as his door was opened to reveal what he didn't want them to see. "AHHH! WAIT! NO! YOU CAN'T GO IN THERE—!" Midoriya panicked needlessly.

"Ahh!"

"It's All Might!"

"It's like a shrine!"

"He's everywhere!"

"You're such a fanboy!" The girls chorused their reactions as the group peered into the room to find All Might merchandise plastered across the walls & tucked into every corner. From the bedspread to the curtains, there was All Might everywhere you looked.

"Well, I admire him…" Midoriya trailed off in embarrassment "This is embarrassing!"

"Does this mean they're judging our rooms too?" Kaminari questioned quietly.

"Probably…" Sero replied, "It could end up being a good time, couldn't it?"

Next was Tokoyami—with some 'help' from Mina & Toru— he opened up his room to them. It was much darker than Midoriya's had been; and glowing a hazy violet. A variety of cult-like items were strung up about the place & a sword sat in the corner. The only normal part of his room, was the array of photos sitting on his dresser.

"So dark & scary!"

"You fiends!" Tokoyami muttered as they inspected his room.

"Oh man! I had a keychain like this when I was in middle school!" Kirishima plucked up a gothic-looking cross keychain.

"So this is how boy's like to decorate…" Mina mused.

"Please leave!" Tokoyami pleaded.

"A sword?! So cool!"

"Awe!" Toru cooed over the framed picture she had found of (presumably) a young Tokoyami with a chick head, happily riding the shoulders of one of his parents, (Toru couldn't quite tell due to the feathers). "Is this you? It's _so_ cute!"

"GET OUT!"

Aoyama proudly presented his shiny room next. Everything seemed to sparkle, whether due to the material the items were constructed of, the giant disco ball in the center of the ceiling, the spotlights bordering the room or the many, many mirrors plastered on the walls. Even the suit of armour in the corner of the room gleamed. "Aren't you dazzled?"

"Shiny!"

"Ah! My eyes!"

"So bright!"

"No, no, no!" Aoyama corrected charmingly, "It's not shiny, it's: mag-ni-fique!"

Having been throughly blinded enough the girls moved on to Ojiro's room next, completely bypassing Mineta's room as if it had never existed. The boy was perverted enough on his own, they could only imagine the true horrors that lay within if they entered. Not much had been done to Ojiro's room they found, save for a few personal touches here and there, but the blonde presented the room nonetheless.

"Oh! It's so barren here!"

"Did you move anything in at all?"

"Please tell me you just haven't unpacked yet?"

"Um, if we're done here, then let's go" Ojiro smiled, though with each comment his tail drooped and Toru couldn't help but feel like she kicked a puppy.

Next was Iida, who had systematically lined one wall with textbooks on seemingly every subject & another with endless rows of glasses. Other than that, his room remained bland and boring. "Whoa! It looks like a library in here!"

"That's the class rep for you"

"You'll find nothing odd in here!" Iida declared, practically begging them to find something.

"You have so many glasses!" Ocahko laughed, finding it right away.

"Of course I do! I expect them all to be destroyed during training!"

Kaminari's room reminded Toru of Kenta's bedroom when they were younger: the 'manly' items spread about the room and the essentials either tightly packed away or strewn about as if there was no such thing as drawers or a closet. The comments on his room were less than stellar.

"Really?"

"This is the store in the mall I'd avoid"

"What? It's perfect!" Kaminari defended.

Following that was Koda's room. Soft and sweet was probably the best way to describe his room; pea green splashed here and there with soft edges on everything (sans the drawers), probably so his rabbit didn't injure itself. The bed itself was occupied by two plushies: a teddy bear & a giraffe plus a couple of Aizawa's cats: Kuro & Momo.

"He has a rabbit!"

"So cute!"

"Hey! No fair! We don't get pets!" Kaminari complained as Kuro hopped from the bed and wove between the girls' legs before coming to stop in front of Todoroki who knelt to pet him. "You're trying to buy the judges' love!"

"Man this sucks!" Kaminari whined as the group of boys then traipsed along the corridor behind the girls.

"Hey, what a coincidence! I don't feel great! At all" Ojiro agreed.

"Same here" Nodded Tokoyami.

"Et moi" Aoyama added.

"That's because the boys are the only ones that are getting picked on!" Mineta decreed leading the charge of boys, "They said it was a contest to see who had the coolest dorm room…But what about them? We have to see the girls' rooms to tell which ones best! Their interior design skills should be held at the same standards as ours, maybe even higher! Show us those dorms!"

"…I'm into it!" Mina cheered.

"Huh?" Jiro gasped.

"Okay, like, so what are the rules? Are we figuring out who has the best taste in the class? Or the overall coolest?"

"We're actually doing this?"

"Uh…this doesn't _have _to be a contest" Ojiro piped up.

"Well, we'll figure it out later! Let's go!"

"Let's see, who else is on the fourth floor?" Ochako puzzled. "It's Bakugou, Kirishima & Shoji, isn't it?"

"Where _is _Bakugou, anyway?" Iida pursued.

"Ah, he thought all this was lame so he went back to his room to sleep" Kirishima supplied sheepishly, "I could use some z's too actually…"

"Then we'll do your room next!" Toru chirped, interested to see how the redhead decorated his dorm room.

"You can sleep all you want after!" Mina added.

"Not that I care, but you might not get what I'm going for—" Kirishima warned as he opened the door to reveal motivational posters, figurines & a punching bag. "—A den of manliness!"

"Hm!'

"If I found out my boyfriend had a room like this, I'd probably walk away"

"So bold! Makes me wanna workout!"

"You got it!"

"Next up! Shoji!"

"You're not gonna find anything interesting here" Shoji warned. And boy was he right, the room was completely bare save for a futon & a small desk—not even the closet had been cleared out.

"Uh…more like nothing at all, dude"

"Did you take stuff out?"

"So you're a minimalist, huh?" Todoroki turned to Shoji.

"I've just never understood why someone would wanna fill their room with useless junk" Shoji shrugged.

"Guys like this always have a super pervy side!" Mineta mumbled deliriously as he searched through the folds of the futon for some kind of evidence. The others had no qualms leaving him there as they headed off to the next room.

"Next floor!" Toru sang, pressing the button for the elevator.

"We'll start with Sero!" Mina cheered.

"Are we seriously doing everyone?" Sero questioned, though he hid a secretive smile at the thought. He had good reason to. The interior of his bedroom was decorated in an exotic mix of tribal patterns & nomadic furniture.

"Wow!"

"Exotic!"

"How lovely!"

"Sero, I didn't peg you for someone who'd like this kinda stuff" Jiro commented.

"Hehehe! Yep! That's me! Always the wild card!" Sero chuckled.

"Okay! Let's keep moving!" Toru called from the doorway.

"Next is Todoroki's room, right?" Yaoyorozu stated hopefully.

_I wonder if it'll be anything like his father's agency? _Toru thought as Todoroki pulled open his door.

"Let's get this over with" He drawled, "It's late"

"GAH!" The entire group was shocked at what they found inside. Compared to the modern interiors of his classmates, Todoroki's room was decorated like something straight out of the history books—complete with tatami mats on the floor & sliding screen doors facing the balcony. There was even a bamboo plant in the corner.

"So traditional!"

"It was even built differently!"

"We've got these kind of floor mats at home, they're much more comfortable than hardwood" Todoroki explained.

"THIS ISN'T YOUR HOUSE!" Kaminari exclaimed.

"HOW DID YOU REMODEL THIS ENTIRE ROOM IN JUST ONE DAY?!" Mineta cried.

"With hard work"

"…You are a beast"

"He'll make such a good Pro…!" Mina sighed, moving onto the next room.

"Pretty boys always have tricks up their sleeves!" Sato groused.

"Okay, next! The last of the guys is…"

"Me…"

Sato's room looked more like a kitchen and a bedroom had a baby: the bed & desk were stuffed into one corner and the pantry, microwave oven & fridge filled most of the space. There was even a set of green oven mitts hanging off of the side of the pantry. "Anyway, it's a pretty boring room…" Sato laughed nervously as he showed his peers.

"All of them are after Todoroki's" Kirishima replied. "Something smells good though, what is it?"

"Oh crap! I forgot about that!" Hurrying over to the oven, Sato hurriedly stuffed his hands into the oven mitts & pulled out what was inside. "I finished unpacking really early, so I started to bake a cake, thought we could all eat it together. It hasn't been iced yet, but…want some?"

"YES!" The girls chorused, pushing their way to the front of the pack.

"THE STRONG GUY'S AN EXPERT BAKER?!" Kaminari & Mineta cried.

"It's delicious!"

"So fluffy!"

"I could eat it everyday!"

"Forget Sero, _this _is unexpected!"

"I think it's great that you have such a fun hobby Sato! Would you bake something to go with my tea one day?"

"Uh…I seriously did not expect this reaction!" Sato bled crimson as the girls chowed down on his cake and praised his skills. "It's mostly training for my sugar Quirk, store bought sweets can get pricey"

Taking the elevator back down to the third floor, the girls led the charge through the second round of room inspections. "That's it for the boys! Now onto the girls!" Toru chirped, popping out of the elevator alongside an equally excitable Mina.

"Aw man! That's so many rooms!" Jiro complained half-heartedly, "Shouldn't we turn in?"

"C'me on Jiro! Live a little!" Mina replied.

"It's kinda embarrassing…" Jiro opened her door first, to reveal what lay inside. _It's like a music store threw up in here. _Toru thought as she peered in to find all manner of instruments laying about the room.

"Whoa! You've got so many instruments!"

"It's because Jiro's totally punk rock!"

"Can you play all these?" Ochako asked over her shoulder.

"Yeah, at least a little" Jiro replied softly as she fiddled with her earjacks.

"You're room's girlier than this" Kaminari commented to Aoyama.

"Because I've got style!" Aoyama posed. Inevitably, the two became plugged into Jiro's earjacks and electrocuted for their comments.

"We're done here!" Jiro dragged the two outside with the others following warily behind.

"Next is me!" Toru sang, skipping over to her door and swinging it open. "Welcome in guys, what d'ya think?" Stepping inside, Toru couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious as she saw her room through the eyes of her peers for the first time. The wooden floor was covered by the handmade rug (stitched together using several squares of free carpet samples). Her bed—occupied by her ragdoll octopus plushie & several crocheted blankets— had been pushed up against the glass sliding doors leading out onto the balcony, which in turn had been covered by shutter blinds. Through the partially opened blinds, you could see the silhouettes of the potted plants hanging from the balcony above hers as well as the ones that lined the balcony railing.

On the left-hand wall sat her dresser, desk and other storage whilst the right-hand wall had been dedicated to numerous photos of family & friends. Plus a section of wall that had been painted with blackboard paint, allowing her to write little messages as needed. Dividing the two sections sat a simple full-length mirror.

The entire room had been illuminated by the fairy lights running the circumference of the room & the giant cylindrical orange lava lamp sat at the foot of her bed. The cherry on top of the proverbial cake was the smattering of glow-in-the-dark stars that covered her dark ceiling & the lavender feature wall framing the balcony.

"It's so cozy!"

"It feels a lot bigger too!"

"Hey! Is that Shinso?"

"Where?"

"There!"

"Oh! So cute! You're both so little!"

"Ohmygod! Toru!" Ochako squealed as she inspected one of the many photos plastered to the wall, "Is that Mase Haruna?"

"Hm?" Toru hummed, coming over to see the photo she was pointing to. It was one that had been taken during camp last year, where Rio, Toru & Kayano were posing with the Anti-Sensei guns. "Oh Kay? Yeah, we were classmates"

"You know Mase Haruna and you didn't tell us?!" Mina turned on the girl.

"What are you talking about?" Toru puzzled, "You met her at I-island, you all did"

"Huh?"

"She was the girl with the green and brown hair…y'know the one that grew tentacles outta her neck?"

"What?! You're telling me we met Mase Haruna and we didn't even know it?!"

"If it helps, she said she thought you guys were cool…" Toru hedged.

"She thought we were co~ol!" Ochako sighed happily, day dreaming much like Midoriya did with…any hero, really.

"Hey To~ru?" Jiro smirked cattily as she pointed to a picture of her and her brother at the beach, "Is this your boy~friend?"

_"Ewwwwww!_ No!" Toru scrunched her nose up in disgust. "That's my brother!"  
"Wow! He's so fit!" Mina drooled.

"Hey! No! Brothers are off limits!" Toru spun around with a finger pointed towards her friend.

"C'me on Toru, sharing is caring!"

_"I'm not sharing my brother! _Besides, it'd never work"

"Why?"

" 'Cause he's unapologetically, flamboyantly, flamingly gay"

"Oh" Mina paused for a moment, "You should get that on a t-shirt. C'me on, we can do mine next! Ta da! Isn't it super cute?"

Mina's room was decorated in a multitude of pink, purple and black patterns ranging from animal prints to polka dots. Toru thought this is probably what a stereotypical teenage girl's bedroom would look like, if she was honest.

"Whoa!"

"It's so…pink!"

"And fuzzy!"

Ochako's was next and seemed a little dismal in compared to the others—something she was well aware of, it seemed. A few personal touches were placed here and there, and some of the furniture had been rearranged, but that was about it. "Yeah, it's not very interesting, I know" Ochako apologised.

"Oh"

"Is this okay? It feels dirty seeing so many girls' rooms up close" Ojiro turned to Tokoyami. "This is their private space"

"Forbidden gardens…" Tokoyami muttered, making Toru eye him warily. _Eurgh! That sounds so wrong!_

"Next is Asui" Midoriya stood out in the hall with Kaminari & Sero as the others drifted out of Ochako's bedroom.

"Wait, where _is _Tsu?" Sero asked, looking around the hallway."Haven't seen 'er"

"Oh! She wasn't feeling too good, so she's in her room" Ochako supplied, biting her lower lip nervously.

"Well, we shouldn't bother her" Kaminari replied as Ochako spared a look over her shoulder at Asui's closed door. "She can show us later when she's feeling better"

"The last one up is Yaoyorozu, right?" Sero led the group towards the girl's dorm.

"The thing is I maybe…miscalculated a few things" Yaoyorozu cracked her door a little, and stood there nervously, not quite opening it fully as she explained. "My room's a little bit more cramped than I intended and maybe not as creative as some of yours"

"THAT BED IS HUGE!" Kaminari gaped, staring at the four-postered bed like it was something fit for a princess. "YOU CAN'T EVEN WALK IN HERE!"

"It's my furniture from home, so I thought it fit" She defended, "I had no idea how small these dorm rooms would end up being"

_Sometimes I forget how rich she really is. _Toru thought wide-eyed.

* * *

"And now…without further ado! Here are the results of the first best room competition—minus Bakugou & Tsu—drum roll please!" Mina pumped up the class for the final results of the competition. They were once again back in the living room and all piled around one of the couches. Toru, herself, was fighting the vestiges of sleep that pulled at her lids as she leant against the back of the couch, waiting for her friend to announce the winner. "With a total of five votes, the overwhelming winner of this totally awesome contest is:…Sato!"

"Huh?" Sato pointed to himself in disbelief at the news.

"By the way, all the girls voted for you because that cake was delicious! I want some more!"

"Thats why?!"

"YOU VILLAIN! Kaminari & Mineta turned on the boy, "ASPIRING HEROES SHOULDN'T RESORT TO BRIBERY!"

"It wasn't on purpose! What the heck!"  
"Is it over? Can I sleep now?" Todoroki yawned.

"Yes! And since you cake don't forget to brush your teeth!" Iida replied. Todoroki was only able to get so far before Ochako's voice pulled him to a stop.

"Hey! Todoroki! Wait a minute!" She called. "Deku & Iida, you too, Momo, Kirishima you have a sec? It's really important"

_I wonder what's that all about? _Toru yawned as she watched the six of them disappear out the door & into the night. _I hope everything's okay… _With her thoughts turning from her peers in the dark to the munted little All Might USB memory stick tucked away in her jewellery box, she made her way upstairs to bed.


	47. Rule #17a

** _Rule #17a: Those who do not possess a second weapon… are not qualified to call themselves assassins!_ **

_"GOOOOOOOD MOOOOORNING ALL YOU EARLY RISERS!" _Waking to Present Mic's extravagant tone as it crackled through the alarm clock on her beside table, Toru flopped back onto her bed (from where she had been hovering above it) and tiredly slammed a hand down repeatedly on the blasted device until she found the off switch. She retracted her arm as blessed silence filled the room once more and she rolled over, clutching onto her plushies as she did so, savouring the last vestiges of sleep. Unfortunately this was short-lived. _"…GONNA BE A BEAUTIFUL DAY! THIS IS NOT ONE TO WASTE, FOLKS…!"_

** _After being attacked by the League of Villains & its variations several times over the last semester, UA bought its students to live on campus in order to keep them safe. The new dormitories—Heights Alliance—was a mere five minutes walk from the main campus._ **

"Nngh!" Toru groaned as she always did, rolling over to glare at the cursed object at hand before reluctantly slipping out from beneath her warm covers and turning it off properly. Tiredly running a hand through her messy locks and she stretched with a yawn, taking great pleasure when her back cracked at the movement. Admittedly, it did take her a few moments to recognise where she was, before she then began to shuffle through her morning routine.

** _Things were a little strange at first, having to share more than just class time with each other, but after a couple of days when everyone had finally settled into their new home, things returned to normal. The students soon returned to their hero and general courses with much trepidation & enthusiasm as before._ **

Once everyone was seated in their classroom, Aizawa—unusually awake & deadly serious—stood at the front of the room where he introduced the latest project for the students. "I believe I've mentioned this already: your main focus this summer is attaining provisional hero licences"

"Yessir!" Chirped 1-A.

"Do _not _take this lightly! A hero license means that you are responsible for human lives; you can imagine to receive one is _very _difficult. Only 50% of students pass the test for these permits each year"

"Is it _that _hard to get a provisional license?" Mineta worried.

"In order to prepare—" Aizawa continued on, ignoring the grape-haired boy. "—Today you'll concentrate on creating something new: your ultimate moves"

"Hm?" Toru's attention slipped from her perpetually exhausted teacher to the three now standing in the doorway. Cementoss, Midnight & Ectoplasm easily fit through the large doorway, and posed in a seemingly practised motion.

"Ultimate moves? An exam is a normal school thing!" Mina & Kaminari chorused.

"This is total hero work!" Sero & Kirishima echoed behind them.

"When we say ultimate, we mean a move that will _insure _you will win against your opponent" Ectoplasm instructed, his layered voice making it a little hard to understand what he was saying.

"An action so unique to your identity, that no other person can hope to copy it" Cementoss continued, "Simply put: you must learn to lean into your strengths"

"Your moves represent you who are" Midnight stated next, "These days, most Pro heroes have an ultimate move; those who don't are fools"

"This may sound abstract, but we'll explain more as the day goes on" Aizawa ended, "For now, change into your costumes and meet in gym Gamma"

* * *

Gym Gamma, as it turned out, was a large training hall affectionally nicknamed the 'Training Dining Land' Or 'TDL' that had been a result of Cementoss' creativity. It's bareness of landscape meant that the teachers could prepare unique landscapes and environments in which to train the students in—it was almost like a training simulator, much like the USJ had been. Standing in the doorway of said gym, the students—each dressed in their latest hero attire—watched on as Cementoss demonstrated how the gym worked.

Of course the awe surrounding the students was quickly cut short when Iida's hand rocketed into the air. "Would you please permit me a question?" He not-quite-asked as Kaminari dodged out of the way of flying limbs from the over-enthusiastic teen. "WHAT IS THE ADVANTAGE OF HAVING ULTIMATE MOVES FOR OUR PROVISIONAL EXAM? MAY WE KNOW YOUR REASONING?"

"That's two questions, calm down" Aizawa drawled from next to Midnight, "The job of a hero is to save people from all sorts of dangers: crimes, accidents & natural/man-made disasters. Of course, the licensing exam analyses how well you're able to deal with these sort of things. It won't just be fighting—the ability to gather information and make quick decisions will be judged. In addition to how well you communicate, co-operate & lead others"

Toru felt nervousness prick at her stomach as the teachers listed off the things required for the exam—it was starting to feel more and more real with each passing moment. It was almost as if they were just playing 'hero' up until this moment. "Every year a new test is used to evaluate these qualities" Aizawa continued.

"One thing is especially important" Midnight piped up, "If you want to be a Pro hero, you must be able to prevail in battle. If you're prepared, you won't have to worry and those of you with an ultimate move will produce stronger results"

"Your circumstances should not dictate the results of your future battles" Cementoss added next. "Learn to be consistent and you'll be a great asset on the front lines"

"Your ultimate move doesn't necessarily have to be an attack" Ectoplasm ended as Cementoss moved off to change up the terrain of the gym. "Take Iida's Reciprocal Burst, for example"

"Huh?" Iida jolted at his name.

"This sort of temporary burst of speed is valuable and that it falls into the sort of excellency that we're looking for"

"You mean I've been doing an ultimate move all along?!" Iida gushed.

"So it's basically our secret weapon, right?" Sato mused, "Something that gives us the edge no matter who or what we're facing?"

"There's a smart boy!" Midnight winked, making the teen turn beet red. "For example, how Kamui Woods is able to use his Lacquered Chain Prison to capture his opponents in an instant—that's _exactly _what we want to see!"

"The training camp was interrupted—" Aizawa drawled, hands in pockets. Toru flinched at the memory and from the corner of her eye she watched as Bakugou resolutely stared down at the floor, no doubt thinking something similar as she. "—But the practise you did get in to develop your Quirks was part of the process needed to create these defining abilities. Now that you're caught up, you'll be working hard to develop powerful moves of your own for the next ten days or so. This is how you'll spend the remainder of your summer vacation"

As Aizawa continued to explain what was going to happen, Cementoss and Ectoplasm went about setting up the arena. Great big earthen columns shot up into the air, some very nearly touching the ceiling, as Ectoplasm split himself into several different copies and took up perches amongst, around and atop the columns created by his colleague so as to help each and every individual student at once. It was an action that reminded Toru of a certain yellow octopus. "Prepare for intensive training! In addition, you should think about how you can improve your costumes; especially now that you have a better handle on your Quirks. I expect you to go Plus Ultra. Do you have it in you?"

"Yessir!" Chorused 1-A.

"I'm so charged up for this!" Kaminari couldn't help but exclaim excitedly before the class split themselves up and found a perch amongst the new terrain.

After scaling one of the taller columns, Toru found herself face-to-face with one of Ectoplasm's many copies, ready and waiting for her to begin. All around her, her classmates were already ready and rearing to go—many of which had already started on their ultimate moves. "I understand that you underwent some serious changes regarding your Quirk, Hagakure?" Ectoplasm intoned as she turned to face the teacher.

"Yessir" Toru nodded, swiftly nervously as she fiddled with her hands. "Uh, I'm still invisible—obviously—but, uh, Grandfather thinks that I absorbed some of the ultraviolet rays during the implosion, 'cause now I can do this" Toru raised her hands, palms up and fingers splayed as they began to glow a pretty violet. The sound of energy crackled between her now violet glowing palms as a small translucent bubble about the size of a softball was formed.

"And how are these different from what you could do before?"

"Uh, well, I used to only use the oxygen within my body to produce the flammable lights from before. But now—since UV light is naturally created through a combination of electrical currents and gas—I s'pose, I would be using the oxygen, carbon dioxide or nitrogen alongside the electrical currents naturally produced within the human body"

"I see" Ectoplasm appeared contemplative, "Is there anything else?"

"I can't do very complex constructs, or big ones yet but they do tend to burn whatever they touch" Toru shyly admitted.

"Hm, very well. For now, we'll just focus on making them bigger; we'll work on potency later"

"Yessir" Toru nodded, ready to spend her time working on growing her constructs until they could be used in the field. The day ended in sweat, tears and exhaustion, but pride surged through her at a job well done. After so many hours, she was well on her way to creating much larger constructs; and Ectoplasm promised to test them out as the week progressed.

* * *

The rest of the week was spent in much the same fashion; gruelling hours soaked in sweat as Toru tried to create bigger and stronger constructs from the UV light she now generated. It was only after the build up of sunburnt blisters now littering her palms, that Ectoplasm shooed her off to the Development Studio and Toru was granted a reprieve from the instant workout. Following a divergence to the nurses' office so Recovery Girl could heal her blistered palms, Toru eventually found herself standing in front of the large metallic doors of the Development Studio. The classroom in question was one of the workshops used by the Support classes used to create their gadgets and was taught by the Pro hero: Power Loader. Lined with discarded blueprints and mangled bits of scrap metal, the entrance to the classroom gave off a very steampunk vibe, even as Toru stood in front of the large steel doors.

Inside, Toru found Kirishima and Kaminari chatting to a couple of the Support course students in regards to their own costumes. "Hey Toru!" Called the neko boy who popped around the corner with a sandwich in his mouth. Coloured like a tabby cat, the second year student stood tall with a pair of cat ears twitching in conjunction with his whiskers as his twin tails swayed in amusement. Aside from the cat-like features decorating the bubbly boy, a pair of darken steampunk goggles adorned his eyes and blocked out the light, allowing him to see in the day time even with his night vision Quirk perpetually active.

"Hey, Hinata!" Toru greeted as she made her way inside.

"What can we do for you?" He asked as he waved her over to his desk, nodding a greeting to their peers on the way.

"Uh, I need some new gloves—I burnt through my other ones"

"Gloves, you say?" He mused, "Requirements, nya?"

"Uh, they need to withstand concentrated ultraviolet light"

"…Nya?" He blinked dumbly. Toru merely produced a small construct in reply and showed it to him; watching in amusement as the violet glimmered against the dark lenses. "Ah! I see! Yes!" He muttered to himself as Toru dismissed the construct and he began to inspect her slightly glowing hands (only really visible through the UV under her skin as she activated her Quirk). "Don't worry, Toru! I've got just the thing!" He cheered, scampering off to another corner of the workshop as she remained seated at his desk.

Not a moment later, Hinata had returned with an armful of blueprints, fabric samples and other supplies needed to create what she was looking for. After through measurements were taken and he reassured once more that they would be the "bees knees!" after proceeding to punch in the requirements to the obtuse machine. While it worked away, he then promptly presented her with a shoebox.

"Um…what's this for?" Toru asked, staring down at the shoebox that had been shoved into her hands.

"They're your shoes for the recital" Hinata replied as he pulled out a video camera. "I need you to test them out for me—you're a size five, right?"

"Four or a five, depending on the brand" Toru replied as she exchanged her stealth boots for the black heels. Admiring the shoes in a discarded mirror on the floor, Toru saw that the heels were black suede with a simple closed-toe design accompanied by two thin criss-crossing straps and buckle (more for decoration than anything else) and a three inch stiletto heel.

"Ooh! Titchy tiny feet!" Hinata cooed.

"Yep, titchy tiny feet" She agreed, wobbling only slightly as she stood up in the heels.

"Well, go on! Give 'em a go!"

Strutting about the Development Studio, Toru ignored the burning gazes of her peers as she tested out the fit of the heels; moving from walking the length of the room to jumping up and down on the spot and even spinning in place. Hinata—like many of the other Dancing for Delinquent kids—were really getting into the spirit of this whole dance performance thing, despite whatever action had landed them in the class in the first place. Toru wasn't quite sure what he had done to end up there, but it wasn't like she had shared hers either—there was like this unspoken rule not to ask. "How'd they feel?" Hinata asked as he checked on her new gloves.

"Good—comfortable" Toru replied as she wandered back over to his desk layered in papers. "Are these the dress designs?" Her eyes scanned over the many brightly coloured turnaround poses scattered about.

"Uh huh"

"So many frills"

"Well, what's tango without a little frills?"

"I s'pose…"

"Gloves are all done"

"Cool, thanks Hinata!"

* * *

"THAT'S ENOUGH, CLASS A!" Vlad King called out, pulling 1-A from their respective attentions throughout the gym, towards him. Peering over the edge of her tier, Toru (only slightly sweaty and tired) was able to see both Kendo and Monoma standing either side of him kitted out in their own costumes. "CLASS B IS SCHEDULED TO USE THIS TRAINING ROOM EVERY AFTERNOON"

"Class B?" Toru cocked her head as she sipped from her water bottle.

_"Man!" _Kaminari whined, his voice echoing around the gym. "Crap timing!"

"Eraser! Get your kids out of our way!" Vlad King turned to Aizawa.

"You're not trying to kick us out early when we still have ten minutes left, _are you?" _Aizawa accused.

"Hey, did ya hear?" Monoma snarked, riding over whatever Vlad King was about to reply with. "The Licence exam has a fifty percent passing rate! THAT MEANS YOUR ENTIRE CLASS MIGHT FAIL! HAHA!"

"Wait—is _that _Monoma's hero costume?" Kaminari turned to Kendo.

"Well, since his Quirk is Copy, he says that he doesn't need anything _too _eccentric"

"So that's him toned down?"

"Unfortunately his observations are correct" Tokoyami pitched in as Dark Shadow receded. "If we're taking the same exam, then we'll crush each other. That's the hand Fate has dealt us"

"And why we won't be in the same location" Aizawa explained, "Classes apply to different spots"

"There are two exam days—in June and in September" Vlad King continued, "The tests are held in three different places. We don't want students from the same place fighting, so we split you up. Each school has one class in a single location"

"…HOW SAD WE WON'T BE ABLE TO FACE EACH OTHER DIRECTLY! MWAHAHA!" Monoma ended.

"Man, this guy's nuts!" Kirishima commented as Monoma cackled.

"Yeah, I think he's officially gone off the deep end" Kaminari replied, nonplussed by the blonde's commentary.

"All those other schools…" Sero muttered. "Huh, interesting, I didn't know that was the case! So we'll be facing kids from other places"

"Yeah, and on top of that, we're taking the test earlier than most of the other students" Midoriya added.

"That's true" Aizawa agreed. "Very few first years in the country try for their Provisional licence. In other words, the test will be made up of students who have trained longer than you and with Quirks you don't know about. The actual _content _of the exam is a mystery, but you can expect to have a tough time—try not to get hung up about that, but keep it in mind"

"Yessir!" Chorused the gathered students.

* * *

"Eurgh!" Mina groaned loudly as she slouched against the couch later that night, "Does it have to be this hard?"

"Well, it's not called intensive training for nothing, y'know" Toru replied as she propped her pinstriped short-clad legs up on the coffee table in front of her. Lounging with the other girls after a long day of school, they sat enjoying each other's company in the few hours before bed.

"That's true" Agreed Yaoyorozu, "But it's strange to think that there's only a week left before the exam"

"Momo! How's your ultimate move coming?"

"Mm, there's something I _really_ want to do, but my body just isn't ready yet. I need time to develop my Quirk and improve my general endurance"

"How about you Tsu?"

"I've perfected a move that makes me even more frog-like than before" Asui replied, sipping at her strawberry milk. "I'm sure even _you _would look surprised, Toru"

"What's your story, Ochako?" Toru turned to the brunette who sat absently sipping at her drink.

"Hey, Ochako!" Asui tapped her on the shoulder.

"Eep!" Ochako yelped, blushing bright pink at the sudden wake-up call.

"You seem a little tense…" Commented Asui.

"No! It's nothing!" Ochako dismissed; but it wasn't fooling anyone. "Everything's going awesome! I'm just getting started!"

"Er…"

"At least, that's how I'd usually be, but the thing is recently my heart's been all stirred up by something"

"IT'S LOVE!" Mina crowed.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Ochako screeched, now crimson. "Love?! Glove?! Shove?! Dove?! Never seen one! What's that?!"

"So who is it? Midoriya or Iida? You're always hanging out with those two boys!"

"You've got it all wrong!" Ochako hid her face in her hands as she accidentally activated her Quirk. "That's not it! I swear!"

"She's floating!"

"Which one? Or is it someone else?" Toru jumped on the band wagon, "C'me on! Spill!"

"Yeah, out with it!" Jiro hounded. "Y'know we're not gonna give up until we know!"

"I SWEAR IT'S NO ONE!" Ochako cried as she floated towards the window. "Besides, it's not like I even know _anything _about dating!"

"Yeah right, like we believe that!" Toru snorted as they watched Ochako's gaze turn dreamy when she gazed down at whomever was still outside.

"It's not good to force an investigation" Asui came to Ochako's defence.

"She's right" Yaoyorozu stood up, "More importantly, it's late. We should call it a night"

"Aw!" Mina complained loudly, "No! I wanna hear _everything! _You can't just spring a hint of romance on us and expect me to go to sleep!"

"What…romance?" Ochako murmured, a little scared by her friend's sudden intensity.

"C'me on, time for bed" Yaoyorozu shooed, "You can interrogate her at breakfast tomorrow"

"Fi~ne!"


	48. Rule #3a

** _Rule #3a: Never be unreachable_ **

Besides the ultimate move training that both first year classes were involved in, other intense training situations were employed in the weeks leading up to the Provisional Hero Licence exam such as the rescue training they were doing today. "…Here's a useful tip about the big exam" Aizawa lectured as he slouched over the pedestal, "Most years you have to rescue someone from a pretend disaster, which can be difficult. So let's prepare now"

The board flared to life behind him, showing two sets of teams in which the class had been split into for the exercise. With Mineta out sick—or _supposedly _sick (no one was brave enough to go into his room and check)—there was an uneven number of people, so one person had been left out as an alternate. "You'll be split into two teams of ten and eight, each group will complete a training exercise together. The extra person will the alternate; their role will be to play back-up should the need arise" Aizawa explained tiredly. That person just so happened to be Toru.

"It looks like I'm on Team A" Iida commented as his eyes ran through the two lists.

"Iida?" Ochako chirped, "And Tsu? We got this in the bag! I can't wait!"

"We'll just have to do our best, ribbit" Asui chimed in.

"We'll _kill _this thing!" Kaminari fist-pumped with Kirishima who sat in the row behind him.

"Oh! We're _all _over it!" Kirishima agreed.

"Teamwork is _incredibly _important for our training!" Yaoyorozu chirped up from the back, "I'm looking forward to working with you, Todoroki & Tokoyami!"

"Sure" Todoroki nodded.

"Together we will prevail" Tokoyami agreed ominously.

"Ugh!" Bakugou growled, predictably glaring at a startled Midoriya who sat behind him. "I'm on the same team as that _damn nerd?!"_

"Now then" Aizawa cut through the rest of the mindless chatter, "You'll be completing the exercise immediately; everyone go change into your costumes and regroup at Ground Beta"

* * *

Seated atop a large piece of rubble that sat off to the side go training Ground Beta not too far from Recovery Girl & Aizawa, Toru sat all dolled up in her latest hero costume and eavesdropped on her peers as Team A strategised on what they would do. Even though she was itching to join them, Toru was unable to do so just yet. As the alternate, Toru was barred from interacting with the original rescuers for a certain period of time; but as soon as her time limit was up everything was fair game. Currently, Yaoyorozu had pulled up a holographic map of the crumbling mall in which their current lesson was to take place.

"…Two hours ago, a fire broke out on the bottom floor of a large underground shopping mall" Yaoyorozu explained as she showed everyone the blueprint of the building, "Fortunately, the blaze was extinguished and most of the people present were evacuated. However, we have received word that somewhere inside of this building there is still one stranded person who needs out assistance"

"Our mission is to rescue that citizen as quickly and as safely as possible!" Decreed Iida, "For our purposes, the citizen will be a training dummy"

"The damage from the fire has taken out the underground powerlines, but lucky a back-up generator is working"

"That's good" Ochako sighed in relief. "Things'll be a lot easier if the lights stay on"

"This boils down to a race against the clock" Tokoyami interjected, "I propose we split into teams—"

"—Hey, this is weird" Midoriya interjected as he glanced up from his phone. "I'm not getting any kind of phone signal out here"

"Me neither" Kaminari chimed in.

"This thing might as well be dead!" Kirishima added as both boys checked their own phones.

"I'm guessing it's not a coincidence that the most common form of communication is out for this exercise" Midoriya shrugged.

"If that's how it is, then we'll need a rendezvous point" Todoroki pointed out as he pocketed his phone. "As well as a time to meet up there"

"This mall has six underground floors" Asui pointed out as she scanned the blueprint in Yaoyorozu's hands. "What if we go down the central stairwell and search the first level—B1—in teams? We can meet back at the stairs ten minutes later and then continue to sweep each floor until we find the person who needs to be rescued"

"Yes!" Ochako agreed, "That's a _great _idea, Tsu!"

"I agree!" Midoriya added, before he turned to the fiery blonde stalking towards the building with his perpetual scowl engraved on his features. "Hey, where are you going, Kacchan?"

"Where do you _think?" _Bakugou scowled over his shoulder. "I'm gonna track down the stupid citizen who didn't escape in time" Toru winced at his harsh words, which although predictable, were starting to make more and more sense as to why the villains had nabbed him. What kind of hero talked like that?

"Wait a minute, Bakugou!" Iida scolded, "Going off on your own ruins our co-operative effort; we should do as Asui proposes"

"I _told you _to call me Tsu!" Asui reminded.

"Eh…yes! As Tsu suggests!" Iida amended.

"You idiots are the ones saying that the search is a race against _time! _I'll find this dummy while you're still trying to figure out what to do! That's the _real _difference between you and me"

"No—wait! Don't—!" Midoriya protested to no avail.

"Yeah, wait up man!" Kirishima agreed as he and Kaminari started after the explosive blonde , "It's dangerous to go alone! I'll go with you!"

"Yeah! I guess we better go with them!" Kaminari added with a put-upon sigh and arms crossed behind his head.

"You guys—we need some kind of plan!" Midoriya tried again.

"We're good" Kirishima called back over his shoulder, "Just meet us at the stairs in ten!"

"We'll make sure that Bakugou's with us" Kaminari waved back, "Probably"

"Right, sure, okay…" Midoriya stumbled, "Be careful in there"

"Wow" Ochako sighed, "Bakugou never changes, does he?"

"So self-centred!" Added Tokoyami as they watched the trio disappear into the bowels of the building.

"Uh, anyway—" Iida floundered for a moment as he tried to regain control of the situation. Even from where she was sitting, Toru could just imagine that the little vein on the side of his neck was bulging at Bakugou's predictable disobedience. "—The clock is ticking! Let's split up and begin our searches as well!"

"I've been thinking about what Quirks will compliment each other" Yaoyorozu piped up. "We can group Midoriya, Uraraka & Asui and Todoroki with Tokoyami. If everyone agrees with that, then Iida and I will make up the final pairing"

_That's clever. _Toru cocked her head as she mused, eyes trailing over each of the smaller teams. _Each group is balanced by their Quirks abilities. Asui is able to navigate all terrain, Ochako's zero gravity will be useful in case of any blockages or whatnot and Midoriya's strength will help in the rescue attempt. _The trio remained stationed outside of the building as the two girls tried to rouse Midoriya from his analytic ramblings.

Toru's gaze drifted from the trio to the two class representatives as they wished the others good luck and disappeared into the dark. _The combination of Iida's speed and Yaoyorozu's ability to manifest items will undoubtedly result in some kind of genius moment._ Her eyes tracked from the class representatives to the last pair as they followed after Iida and Yaoyorozu as Midoriya continued to ramble as he was known to do. _And then there's the those two: Tokoyami's Dark Shadow, who works best in the dark—he'll do well, I reckon—if Tokoyami can control him. And Todoroki's hot 'n cold will be extremely helpful in a disaster area—for mostly structural things, I'd say._

_Even those boneheaded three are well-suited. _Toru bit her lip in thought as her eyes then turned to the dark opening in which Bakugou, Kirishima and Kaminari had already disappeared into. _With Kirishima as the go-between between the two blondes and his hardening Quirk, he will be useful in not only wrangling Bakugou, but the citizen as well. Kaminari's Quirk will be useful if the power inside the building were to fail and with Bakugou's explosive nature…well, it'll likely cause some kind of problem(s) but, he'll still help to motivate his teammates (probably without meaning to). So I s'pose that's something—the morale of the rescuers is just as important, afterall._

* * *

Lounging atop the piece of rubble that Toru had selected as her vantage point, she knew that she should be coming up with strategies on what she could do when she finally joined the exercise; but all she ended up doing was stare up at the clouds as she tried to find different shapes in their fluffiness. Recovery Girl and Aizawa stood not too far off to the side with several small holographic screens lit up in front of them. It appeared that the whatever surveillance they had within the building was something outside of the original building's infrastructure, as it easily captured the movements and actions over her peers. Although the crackling audio left a lot to be desired, but you couldn't have everything she supposed.

From this distance, Toru could just barely make out the brightly coloured suits of her classmates in the dimly lit building if she tilted her head at just the right angle. Of course as soon as Aizawa noticed what she was doing, he moved the screens away from her view so she couldn't cheat…Could you even cheat on a lesson like this? Turning back to the cloudy blue sky, she wondered what this lesson held in store for them as her legs swung idly back and forth above the ground. What would go wrong this time? Because whenever they left the classroom, something was _bound _to go wrong, it's just the way things were. _Are we cursed? _She wondered._ It would make sense, I guess. There's a lot of next generation heroes in our class—a lot of money too—old & new—People'll have been hurt for less. I've hurt people for less. I wonder what that makes me? The hero or the villain?_

Soon enough, Toru was brought out of her wandering thoughts by the ground rolling beneath her. Jerking upright, she watched on in horror as the building her peers had disappeared into crumbled into dust, locking them inside with no way out. This lesson had just turned in to the real deal. _Oh shit!_

** _RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! CRASH! THUMP!_ **

The sounds of the building crumbling within set Toru's hair on edge, littering her skin with goosebumps as she listened to the situation get so much worse. Rushing to the edge of the new sinkhole, she peered down into the dark with violet eyes as she tried to make out how bad things really were. She sent a worried look towards a grumbling Aizawa and a worried Recovery Girl, who had to know that even this simple exercise would inevitably fall into disaster (their class was good at making mountains out of molehills). Even though Toru knew that her time limit wasn't up yet, she (fruitlessly) hoped that they would waylay that rule so she could go and help her classmates. Her fingers clenched into the material of her costume as she silently implored them to let her go.

In the end, the answer came to them in the form of Ochako, Yaoyorozu and Asui gently floating up through the damaged building with Iida strapped into a stretcher and a brace placed around his head, locking his unconscious form in place. Leaning precariously over the edge, Toru felt her heart quicken as their voices reached her. "…Get Iida to Recovery Girl right away" Ordered Yaoyorozu. "Asui, please go along with them and report to Aizawa-Sensei. I'll stay here and make the rope ladder"

"Are you the only ones who were able to escape?" Aizawa called out as the three girls continued to ascend.

"Aizawa-Sensei!" Ochako gasped in relief when all three glanced down at the call. "Recovery Girl!"

** _BOOM! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! CRASH!_ **

"Was that…another collapse?" Asui turned as the sound of the building crumbling further, reached them.

"No, wait" Toru shook her head as she shared the same sentiment. "It sounded more like an explosion. But what could…?"

"It couldn't be, could it?" The frog girl turned to her as she and the others moved back to the surface where it was safer.

"Bakugou?" Toru knotted her brows in thought as Recovery Girl set about healing Iida, "It certainly sounds like something he'd do"

"But after the first collapse, ribbit?"

"He might not even have known about the first one, if they got too far, that is"

"—Wait!" Off to the side, Ochako and Yaoyorozu appeared to be laying into Aizawa with rather blatant disbelief. "So you're _not _going to save them? How can you leave them down there, Aizawa-Sensei?!"

"Could the collapse of the underground been—?" Yaoyorozu began.

"—Within the expected parameters of the exercise?" Aizawa interjected. "Just think for a minute, if you can't get pass a simple crisis like this one then it's unlikely you'll pass the exam"

"Sure but, Iida got hurt down there!" Ochako retorted. "Our other classmates might be trapped and need help right now!"

"In that case, they're no longer heroes. They're victims in need of assistance, now. So who will rescue them?"

"…I'll get the rope ladder ready!" Yaoyorozu spun on her heel, racing back towards the crumbling building.

"I can help too!" Ochako added.

"Ribbit!" Agreed Asui.

"Right!" Toru nodded, following after the trio as they hurried to save their friends.


	49. Rule #24

** _Rule #24: Backup plans are the cornerstone of confidence_ **

Racing through the maze of twisting corridors, Toru did her best to quickly and efficiently search through the lower levels of the mall in order to see if any more of her classmates remained there. Whilst she did this, Yaoyorozu was creating a long enough rope ladder to reach down the elevator shaft; leaving Asui and Ochako to scour through the upper levels of the mall for their peers.

All around her, the sound of the unstable building creaking and groaning set her nerves on edge and drove her to search the floors much faster than she would have liked, as she raced against the clock. _That doesn't sound good. _She worried her lip between her teeth as she raced around the corner and consequently straight into Midoriya. "Ack!" She yelped as the two tumbled to the floor, surprised by the other's sudden appearance.

"Ha—Hagakure?" Midoriya blushed when he discovered the position they had fallen into. Invisible limbs pushed themselves off of the green-haired boy with little effort as Toru regained her bearings, unaware of the thoughts rushing through her classmate's head.

"Ugh" Toru shook off the ache that accompanied her sudden headbutt against the greenette's chest. "Midoriya? Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine" MIdoriya replied as Toru got off of him and offered him a gloved hand, up.

"Good, that's good"

"Wait! What are you doing here, Hagakure? It's too dangerous! You should go back!"

"I can't, the building's more unstable than before and I need to see if there's anyone else still in here"

"But—!"

"—Wait!" Toru cut through Midoriya's protest as the sound of roaring water met her ears. "Does that sound like water to you?"

"Oh no…" Midoriya breathed, his face paling as he turned towards the sound at the stairs leading down to the basement.

"Is there anyone still in here?" Toru prodded. "Midoriya?"

"Uh, Kaminari, Kirishima and Tokoyami went back to the surface and Kaachan stayed back with Todoroki"

"Dammit!"

"Hagakure?"

"We have to go"

"Go?"

_"C'me on!"_ Toru took off down the corridor towards the basement and rushing water. "We have to hurry! If the water sounds like that up here, who knows how bad it is further down?"

"And no matter how amazing Todoroki's ice is, I can't imagine he'll be able to freeze evey drop of water that's gushing into the ground floor! He's probably only been able to freeze the top layer" Midoriya replied as he raced alongside the invisible girl; just as worried about their classmates as she.

"Which means that the water is still building up underneath it—the pressure beneath the ice must be incredible!"

"Worse case scenario: the whole underground mall will end up collapsing"

"Taking us along with it"

"Kaachan didn't leave because he wants to rescue Todoroki, which means he must have a plan!"

"But what could he do? Explosions won't do much against torrents of water—not unless he combines it with Todoroki's fire to fashion some sort of geyser. But that would likely bring the whole building down on us!"

"The chances of success _are _rather low with just the two of them"

"Then we better hurry!"

"Right!"

Soon enough the pair emerged out into the bottom-most level of the basement where Todoroki and Bakugou were stood off to the side, bickering over what to do. "Kaachan! Todoroki!" Midoriya called as he led the way.

"Midoriya" Todoroki greeted over Bakugou's shoulder. "Hagakure"

"AH GREAT! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, YA DAMN NERDS?!" Bakugou demanded.

"Hold on! I'll open a hole in the ice" Midoriya replied, ignoring Bakugou's _rather_ loud exclamation.

"YOU LITTLE—!"

"Just be ready to freeze a platform for us to stand on—"

"—We can't!" Toru vehemently vetoed. "The others are still getting out and one wrong move could bring this whole place down on us!"

"So fly us outta here then!" Bakugou snapped, turning on the girl.

"I can't"

"You what?"

"I can't fly, not anymore"

"What? Did you just suddenly lose the ability to fly?!"

"I _imploded _Bakugou, some things are bound to be different"

"Guys, now's not the time!" Todoroki scolded.

"Yeah, yeah you're right" Toru nodded.

"STAY OUTTA THIS YOU ICY-HOT BASTARD!" Bakugou turned on Todoroki next.

"Kaachan!" Midoriya worried, but was ignored.

"Look, we might not have a choice" Todoroki warily eyed the rapidly rising water levels as his sheet of ice began to crack beneath the immense pressure.

"Right, Kaachan" Midoriya turned to Bakugou next as Toru stepped back with arms crossed, still a little wary about continuing on with such a risky plan. "Make sure you blast every ceiling"

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Bakugou snarked irritably.

"Now's not the time, Baka!" Toru smacked him over the back of the head much to his irritation. But the action gave Midoriya enough of a distraction to launch a Quirk-powered kick towards the base of the ice sculpture on the floor below them. Water exploded upwards from the kick, engulfing Midoriya in the torrent as it raced up to meet them. "Oh, we're all about to get very wet…" She murmured as Todoroki leant over the ice platform he had created, and plucked Midoriya from the water as Bakugou set about blasting the ceilings to pieces.

"DIE CEILING!" Came Bakugou's war cry as Toru helped to haul Midoriya up onto the ice and not a moment too soon as debris rained down on them like hail. Falling into a crouched position, Toru all but dug her fingers into the ice as they rocketed skywards and silently prayed that the geyser would push them far enough out of danger.

"The next level!" Todoroki warned as the platform shot through the smokey cloud of falling debris and aftermath of Bakugou's controlled explosions.

Unfortunately, the next ceiling took a bit more than Bakugou's precise explosions to get it out of the way. A superpowered kick from Midoriya later (after he was once again hauled back onto the platform after slipping from the edge upon landing), found the quartet bursting through the last of the lower levels of the mall until sunlight had begun to stream in through the cracks. "LOOK OUT!" Toru cried, flinging her hand up and generating a small violet convex bubble above their heads just in time as larger shards of debris rained down on them. It was only due to her forcefield that the quartet was able to survive the heavy rain of dirt and smoke.

However, their good fortune barely lasted more than a few seconds as the raining debris quickly grew in quantity, growing far too much for the young heroine to handle as it obscured their vision. Unbeknownst to them, a single piece of rubble was headed straight for them; one that Toru was unable to deflect in time. One moment the quartet had been wildly riding the geyser up through the floors like they were heroes in a video game, and the next they were flying through the air, backhanded by the rubble that dislodged the ice platform from beneath their feet.

Even in her panic, Toru knew that their landings would not be easy and so squashing down the fear choking at her throat, she reached out with her feet to grab the closest person to her. It just so happened to be Bakugou. "HEY! WHAT THE HELL?!" Bakugou demanded, twisting as much as possible in her grip. "LEMME GO!"

"Quit struggling!" Toru fired back as she tightened her legs around his chest and squeezed her eyes shut in concentration, throwing up a violet forcefield around them. Even with her eyes screwed shut, Toru knew the moment when they hit the ground because it felt like her bones were rattling and her breath wheezed as the wind was knocked out of her at the sudden contact. Sweat dripped down her brow and Bakugou was mercifully silent as she waited for the rain of debris to stop.

Laying on her back with arms locked above her head like she was lifting weights, Toru wearily blinked her eyes open so that she could assess the damage, to see if it was safe enough to drop the forcefield. "Well…" Toru panted as the last of the dust dissipated and she dropped the forcefield. "That…could've—_achoo!—_been…a lot…worse" Collapsing onto her back, she lay there for a moment just catching her breath, eyes following the little firefly-like bubbles of violet floating above her, that she had produced when she had sneezed. Curiously, though she hand't heard a peep from Bakugou since they'd landed, nor had she seen where Midoriya or Todoroki had landed. "Where could…they have gone?"

Propping herself up onto her elbows, violet eyes pierced the dark as Toru searched for her wayward peers. "Oh no…" Toru breathed when her gaze alighted upon the prone form of Bakugou lying not too far away from her. Thankfully, her forcefield had served its purpose well enough as the boy was framed by a section of debris that had been cleaved clean in two by the corrosive bubble. But worry still tugged at her heart as she rose to her feet and climbed over the rubble separating the pair. "Bakugou? Bakugou? Can you hear me?" She gently petted his face with one hand whilst the other dug under his collar in search of a pulse.

** _LA-DUB LA-DUB LA-DUB_ **

"Phew, pulse is still there" She sighed in relief, "Bakugou? Wake up! Bakugou! Oh please don't hate me for this" She whispered reeling her arm back before she slapped him clean across the face, leaving a red hand print clear across his cheek. Thankfully, that seemed to do the trick.

"Ugh…" Bakugou groaned, eyes blearing blinking open at the sudden wake-up call.

"Bakugou?" Toru leant back on her heels as he tried to sit up, only to lean forward to clutch at his head. "Are you all right?"

"Nn!" He groaned, clutching onto blonde locks with gentle fists and eyes clenched shut.

"Bakugou? What's wrong?" She hesitantly placed a hand on his shoulder, and when he did not immediately shove her off she knew that something was wrong. "Bakugou? I need you to look at me"

"G'off!" He groused, lightly waving her away as she gripped his head between her hands and gently lifted his head to face her.

"Hm" Toru narrowed her eyes in contemplation. "Your head clearly hurts, about as irritable as normal…Do you remember what happened?"

"What are ya talking about Sunshine? We blasted through the ceiling!"

"Memories are still intact" Toru mused to herself as she assessed the blonde to the best of her abilities, absently backhanding one of the violet fireflies as she did so. Recovery Girl's compulsory lessons were really coming in handy right about now. Her eyes narrowed further as Bakugou winced at the small amount of light radiating from the persistent firefly and she sucked at her lip as her thoughts came together. "Sensitive to light…It's likely a concussion" She sat back on her heels once more, letting go of his head. "You must've hit your head pretty hard. Are you dizzy at all?"

"I'm _fine!"_ Bakugou groused as his hands twitched in his lap, likely wanting to resume his earlier position.

"Mmhm" Toru hummed as she spared a glance over her shoulder in the hopes that the others would miraculously be there. "Right, just stay here for a moment. I'm going to see if the others are all right" Getting to her feet, Toru had barely made it a pace or two away before she spun on her heel and pointed a gloved finger towards the usually fiery blonde. "Stay. Here!"

"I'm not a dog!" Bakugou growled.

"Stay!" She eyeballed him for a moment before he slumped back against some rubble and turned his head away in reluctant defeat. "Good"

Scaling the rubble proved to be less difficult than she first thought, although she couldn't help but reminisce that it was similar to days when 3-E would run the mountain tracks during their PE lessons. Thankfully, Toru didn't have to go very far before she could hear both Midoriya and Todoroki's voices above her. "…felt like I got his by a truck, but I can still move alright"

"What floor did we land on?" Todoroki asked.

"We destroyed the ceiling three times, by my count…so we're probably on level B3?"

"That's good, we made it pretty far up. The water won't be able to catch us now. We're close to the surface"

"It's all thanks to you Todoroki and Kaachan's blasts—"

"—Oh _thank_ goodness!" Toru exclaimed as she climbed over the top of the rubble, scrambling over to the two boys when she found them up and about.

"Hagakure!" Todoroki smiled, happy to see his classmate was well.

"Good, you two made it!" She jogged over to them, eyes scanning the two for any injuries they may have incurred.

"Hagakure!" Midoriya turned to the invisible girl as he gingerly clutched to his arm. "Where's—?"

"—Midoriya? Is your arm okay?" Toru retorted, cutting across his question as her eyes zoned in on the injury.

"Uh…it's fine! It's just a little sore!"

"Mm" She stepped forward despite the greenette's protests, to inspect the arm. "It looks dislocated"

"Dis-dislocated?" Midoriya paled, turning to look at the shoulder in question.

"Don't look! It always makes it worse when you look"

"Can you help him?" Todoroki peered over her shoulder as she gently took Midoriya's arm in her hands.

"Ah…Midoriya"

"Y-yes?"

"What's your favourite colour?"

"My favourite—?" Midoriya knotted his brows in confusion at the question that popped out of the blue.

** _POP!_ **

"AH!" His eyes bulged as Toru quickly reset his shoulder, popping it back into place with quick and practised movements.

"Just one more thing…" She murmured, reaching down to pluck the green scrap of fabric at her feet (Midoriya's hood, if she had to hazard a guess) and set about fashioning it into a sling for the boy.

"What—what are you doing?" Midoriya stammered, face burning red as Toru pressed in close to tie off the sling.

"I'm nearly done" She promised. "There you go"

"Oh, th-thanks"

"Honestly, you're both idiots—alive—but still idiots" Toru shook her head in amusement.

"Both?" Todoroki turned to her with a look of confusion written on his features at the comment.

"Hagakure! Do you know where Kaachan is?!" Midoriya demanded, the question burning on his tongue for the passed for minutes.

"This way" Toru grimly waved them back the way she had come. "C'me on"

Sliding back down the rubble was much easier than it had been climbing up and the trio easily reached the fiery blonde where he remained slumped against the piled debris behind him. Knocking aside the annoying violet fireflies, Toru quickly followed after Midoriya who had raced ahead after seeing his childhood friend in such a condition. "Oh no! Kaachan!" Midoriya cried, dropping to his knees next to the blonde. "What's wrong?"

"Concussion" Toru supplied as she joined Todoroki and Midoriya by his side once more. "It's not too bad, but he should still see Recovery Girl when we get outta here"

"Right" Todoroki nodded. "Bakugou, lean on me and Hagakure so you can walk. We're almost out of here"

"This injury's nothing!" Bakugou stubbornly slapped away the hand offered to him; putting on a brave face to save his bruised ego. "I'm just fine on my own!"

"Don't push yourself"

"I can get out of here without anyone's help!"

"Kaachan! We don't have the time!" Midoriya piped up. "Please! We have to go!"

"NOT A CHANCE!"

"All right" Toru sighed defeatedly as she moved to stand over the defiant blonde. "Tough love time: DAMMIT MAN! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!"

"Hagakure…" Midoriya breathed, staring up at the invisible girl with wide eyes as she shouted at their stubborn classmate. Off to the side, Todoroki shuffled away just a step or two from the girl, looking a little wary as she exploded.

"HUH?!" Bakugou turned to face the girl, suddenly comparing the tough love from the girl, to that of his mother. It was an odd comparison.

"TAKE OUR HANDS OR SO HELP ME GOD, I'LL SHOVE MY FOOT SO FAR UP YOUR ASS YOU'LL BE TASTING LEATHER! GOT IT?!"

"Scary…!" Midoriya murmured as he watched the exchange with wide eyes. Eyes that widened even further when the blonde reluctantly placed his hands in theirs and they heaved him upright, draping his form between the two.

"Good" Toru nodded once he was situated between herself and Todoroki. "Let's go"

"We're almost to the surface now" Todoroki agreed as they began to walk, Midoriya bringing up the rear.

Soon enough, the quartet were greeted by Ochako who stood illuminated by the evening sunlight, haloed like an angel. Toru felt a grin creep across her lips at the sudden blush creeping across Midoriya's face even as Bakugou yelled at him over something so insignificant. A glance to her right showed Todoroki, whose face bore an expression of relief at the sight of their classmates gathered above them.

_They can build all the walls they want. _Toru thought as Ochako stuck them in to zero gravity and lifted them out of the building. With both Bakugou and Midoriya handed off to Recovery Girl (who impressively cowered both boys with a single look), Toru let herself fall into the arms of her classmates as they surged forward in both worry and relief. As they chattered about their safe return, and begged for details on what had happened down there; she couldn't help but smile at what they had become. Looking at them now, she knew it to be true. _We will break them down, overcome your boundaries to go beyond. Plus Ultra!_


	50. Rule #8

** _Rule #8: Never take anything for granted_ **

With so many girls living together under one roof, it was only a matter of time until they began to sync up and God help the males when they did. Trudging down the stairs in a pair of weathered black leggings and an oversized feminist t-shirt that read: _NO UTERUS, NO OPINON! _in bright red bubble letters, Toru felt like carving her uterus out with a spoon. The black and red t-shirt had been a gag present from her brother, Kenta, when she had first gotten her period a couple of years ago—he'd even decorated the neckline and sleeves in cartoonic blood drips like those on cliché halloween decorations.

As she dragged her feet from the kitchen (with hot wheat bag in hand) to the lounge area where the other afflicted girls had gathered; she spotted Asui's head of hair poking out from the blanket burrito she had wrapped herself in, and lay softly snoring up at Tokoyami's side. Across from them, Yaoyorozu sat aggressively sipping at her—_one, two, three, four—_fifth cup of tea (the used bags were piled high on her saucer) as she glared at everyone over the rim of the delicately decorated china. And finally Ochako who sat on the floor at her feet uncontrollably weeping over how green Midoriya's hair was (something which seemed to dumbfound the greenette, whose head lay in Ochako's lap as she fingered it)—at least that's what Toru could discern through the blubbering tears. It was a good thing it was a Saturday.

"You too, huh?" Toru grunted as she hugged her wheat bag to her stomach and collapsed onto the couch, practically climbing into Todoroki's lap as she did so. She tried to ignore the glare Yaoyorozu sent her way as she snuggled in close to the boy's warm chest, ignorant of his suddenly frozen form.

"It _hurts, _Toru!" Ochako whined pathetically, and when she lifted her head to look at the invisible girl Toru saw the tear tracks that ran down her rosy cheeks. Honestly, she was giving Midoriya a run for his money with those tears. "Make it stop!"

"There's no _way _that cramps hurt that bad!" Kaminari laughed, looking over at the pitiful girls from where he lounged in his pyjamas amongst his friends. At that, _every_ girl in the room levelled him with a deathly glare that emanated such an aura that Toru was sure even Dark Shadow would have cowered. Kaminari certainly did.

"I'd rather carve my uterus out with a spoon" Toru deadpanned over Todoroki's shoulder.

"That's—uh" Sero stammered, paling at the sudden unity of all six girls in the room as Kaminari called them out. "That's a bit much, don't ya think?"

_"A bit much_, you say?" Yaoyorozu clanked her tea cup down on the occupied saucer as she sat up, pin-straight like someone had shoved a metal rod down her back. "Perhaps some…_lessons _for you are in order, then" _Who knew Momo could be so bitchy?_

"L-lessons?"

"Mum—mum made Shiro paint with my—my blood when I first got mine" Ochako sniffed, looking interested at the idea as her fingers continued to rake through Midoriya's green locks.

"Really?" Jiro perked up, leaning over the back of the couch next to Yaoyorozu's head. "How'd that go?"

"He couldn't—couldn't believe there were—were—were chunks in it! And—and he gagged a lot"

"Interesting" Yaoyorozu mused as many of the boys around them paled at the descriptions given.

"Ooh! We could do what I did to my brother!" Toru piped up as Todoroki furtively tried to figure out where to put his hands while she draped herself over him (Toru was rather clingy this time around).

"What—what did you do?" Ochako sniffed.

"I'd put tomato sauce in his pants and kicked him in the balls throughout random times of the day for an entire week" Toru replied.

"Eek!" Todoroki squeaked quietly in her ear, and she could've sworn that she saw his eyes widen out of the corner of her eyes.

"It was quite therapeutic, actually"

"That sounds quite enjoyable" Yaoyorozu smiled wickedly.

"But—but that's so much work! And I don't wanna move!" Ochako whined and the group of boys gathered seemed to share a collective sigh of relief.

"Yeah…"

There was a beat of silence as everyone seemed to let the matter go, returning to their friends as they continued to languish through the Saturday morning. Shifting again in Todoroki's lap, Toru felt her eyelids grow heavy as she listened to his heartbeat. With the gentle beat in her ears and the warmth from her wheat bag cuddled close, she felt herself drift closer to sleep even as the cramps plucked at her ovaries. It didn't last long. "Hey Toru?" Ochako murmured.

"Mm?" Toru hummed, raising her brows in question, but still didn't open her eyes.

"Do you have spare tampons?"

"Uh, I'm not sure" Toru hauled her eyes open with much effort. "I'll have to check. Are you all out?"

"Nearly"

"Okay, hang on" Toru didn't get up, instead she turned to rest her chin on Todoroki's shoulder as her eyes darted towards the kitchen where Mina had disappeared to, alongside Jiro. "HEY MINA!"

"Yeah?" Mina called back, her loud voice echoing out with its usual exuberance as Todoroki winced at the loud voice suddenly in his ear.

"DO WE HAVE ANY MORE TAMPONS?"

"Ugh! Ew!" Mineta gagged, not-so-quietly.

_"What?" _Yaoyorozu snapped, narrowed eyes rising to meet the grape-haired boy.

"N-nothing!" Mineta squeaked as he scampered away.

"Mm~hm"

"Uh, WE'LL NEED TO GET SOME MORE!" Mina called back.

"KAY, THANKS!" Toru tucked her head underneath Todoroki's chin with a sigh as she turned back around. "Guess we're going shopping today. Yay"

"I could've done that…" Ochako pouted as the invisible girl curled up.

"Uh, we—we can do it" Midoriya stammered, looking both eager to get out of Ochako's grip and happy with petting.

"That's sweet, Midoriya, but you don't even know what you're looking for" Toru hummed.

"Perhaps if you were to write it down?" Tokoyami suggested.

"Eh…"

"You'd probably manage to blow up the store" Yaoyorozu snarked as she returned to her tea.

"That's not fair" Tokoyami replied.

_"Tell me_ I'm wrong. Go on"

"Uh…"

_"Exactly"_

"We're not _that _bad" Midoriya pouted from the floor.

_"You _burnt _water"_

"That was _one_ time!"

"Yeah, how _did _you do that, by the way?" Toru agreed.

"Uh—uh, well, you see…"

* * *

"You didn't have to all come" Toru groused as she pursued the aisles of the grocery store with handwritten list in hand and a quartet of boys trailing after her like lost puppies. She could already feel the headache building—or was it the PMS?

"Yeah, well, it was this or listen to Uraraka wail over shoes" Bakugou snarked as he turned to inspect the array of sour sweets, with hands stuffed into his jacket.

"So Momo's _'lessons' _had nothing to do with it, then?" She quirked a brow as Kirishima plucked several bags of konpeito sweets from the shelf and plopped them into the basket.

"Of course not!"

"Did she really mean that?" Midoriya piped up, peering around Todoroki who stood staring gleefully at the pocky on sale. "Yaoyorozu, I mean"

"With the labour simulator?" Toru replied, fiddling with the ends of her long sweater sleeves. "I mean probably not, but maybe. It really depends on how much Kaminari and Mineta pissed her off; which I guess, wouldn't take much at the moment"

"So?"

"So yeah, maybe"

"But she's—she's not gonna make _us _do it, right? Right?"

"Depends on how much you bug her"

"Scary…"

"Don't be such a wuss, ya damn nerd!" Bakugou snapped, predictably turning on the greenette as Kirishima tried to placate his friend.

Rolling her eyes, Toru pocketed the pocky that Todoroki had been salivating over and moved onto the personal care aisle, where the sanitary section was located. "Now…" She mused, glancing over the list in her hand as she scanned the shelves. "What do we need?"

"Wah! There's so many!" Midoriya gasped, staring wide-eyed at all the colourful packages that lined the shelves as the boys joined her in the same aisle.

"What are these even for?" Kirishima turned to the invisible girl in confusion as he held up a delicately decorated Diva cup. "Do you drink from it or something?"

"Eurgh! No" Toru laughed. "That's a Diva cup, you like, stick it up & in and it just sits there"

"W-what?"

"You good there, Midoriya?" Toru turned to the greenette as he inspected a packet of pads and rambled on about how to best apply them. Usually, she would be embarrassed by the numerous odd looks they were receiving from the public, but at this point in time, she didn't give a fuck. "Midoriya?"

"…Like a giant band-aid? How does it _work?" _The greenette's ramblings turning a little possessed and somewhat frightening.

"Uh, right…" Toru moved over to the end of the aisle where a section of '_How to' _pamphlets sat snuggled together. Grabbing a couple from the stand, she returned to the confused boys and shoved the pamphlets into their hands, replacing whatever items they had held previously. "Read this"

_"Periods for Dummies" _Bakugou read over Kirishima's shoulder. "What is this shit?"

"All the shit you need to know"

Thankfully that seemed to preoccupy the boys for the time being as they moved about the store, collecting everything that they needed. Occasionally Midoriya or Kirishima would ask a question or exclaim that what they read wasn't—couldn't be possible, but for the most part they were well-behaved. _Why do I feel like a babysitter? _Toru thought as she pursued the selection of Supies (super-sized fruits and vegetables), looking for the blueberries that Asui had requested. Off to the side, Todoroki appeared to be inspecting the tomatoes with pale features, as if what he had read somehow correlated to the fruit.

Midoriya seemed glued to the pamphlet in his hands and his index fingers repeatedly tapped at the edges of the paper as he made mental notes, like he did whenever he didn't have his notebook. In turn, Kirishima could be seen squatting between the bananas and mumbling how it was "So manly!" as he clutched to his stomach like he'd somehow miraculously gotten his own. Which left Bakugou who was steadily glaring at his friend like he was an idiot, but Toru could see the edges of the crumpled pamphlet sticking out of his pocket as he contemplated on whether not he should kick Kirishima. _Idiots._

Turning back to the task at hand, Toru tried to ignore the cramping in her gut as she reached for a couple of the Supies' blueberries that sat nestled between the other berries—they were about the size of a regular watermelon, so she figured they only needed one or two—before someone bumped into her. "Oops! Sorry!" They apologised, retreating a little.

"It's fine" Toru sighed as she regained her balance and turned to the person garbed in a cozy-looking sweater dress. "Oh, hey Lani"

Tsuragamae Lani was a pretty second year student at UA and another member of this year's _Dancing for Delinquents _class. Taking after her father, the police chief, Lani's Quirk manifested itself in the form of her canine-like attributes; such as the golden Labrador head now grinning back at her. "Toru?" Lani grinned, "It's good to see you! What are you doing here?"

"You mean besides buying groceries?"

"Uh, yeah, besides that"

"Just taking the pups for a walk" Toru nodded towards the quartet of boys who were not-so-subtly eavesdropping on the conversation.

"Ooh! They're so cute!" Lani cooed, sharing a wicked grin with the invisible girl as the pair watched Bakugou grow more and more agitated with each remark. It was like they were just waiting for the volcano to explode. Despite their teasing nature, both Todoroki and Midoriya blushed at the praise—Todoroki especially when Lani pinched his cheek. "And whose this cutie-pie?"

"Uh" Toru tried to smother her laugh, although the joy could easily be heard in her tone as she watched her friend paw at the heterochromatic boy. "That's Todoroki, the green one is Midoriya—"

"—Hi" Midoriya waved shyly.

"—The red one on the floor is Kirishima and the blonde is Bakugou. Boys, this is Tsuragamae, she's a friend of mine"

"Tsuragamae?" Midoriya's brows knotted in thought. "Like the police chief?"

"Yeah, he's my father" Lani sighed. "And so overprotective! You shoulda seen his reaction when he first saw the UA uniform! Ooh! speaking of! Toru!"

"Yes…?" Toru replied a little warily as Lani spun to face her.

"I just heard that Hinata is nearly done with the costume designs!"

"Ooh! Yay!" Toru grinned. "Wait—_Designs?_ As in plural?"

"Yeah, apparently, he went a little overboard. _Again"_ Lani sighed fondly. "So, Midnight-Sensei wants us to try them all on and pick which ones we like best"

"Are we gonna do it at practise on Monday, or after?"

Together the pair of girls chatted together as they moved easily about the store on their way to the cashiers, with the quartet of boys trailing after them."Uh, well, we still have to sort out that spin sequence; so after I think?" Lani mused.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see"

"Yeah. Why so bothered though? Got something going on?"

"Nah, Sensei's just really pedantic about the whole curfew thing; like the other night when Tokoyami went to put out the rubbish, Sensei nearly ripped him a new one. It's like he thinks we're plotting world domination or something"

"Oh? Is this in the dorms?"

"Yeah, they're pretty swish—a lot nicer than the old ones, that's for sure"

"Is that so? Well, we'll just have to see for ourselves, won't we?"

"Wha—I wasn't volunteering!"

"Now you are~!"

"Hey! Lani!"

"Bye~bye Toru, see ya on Monday! I'm already looking forward to seeing the pups again!"

"I'M NOT A DOG!" Bakugou finally exploded as the group exited the store.

"Of _course _not, puppy" Lani pouted patronisingly as she petted him on the head much to his annoyance.

"G'OFF!"

"Careful!" Toru laughed as she ignored Bakugou's glare. "That one bites!"

"Haha! See ya Monday, Toru!" Lani waved as she disappeared.

"See ya, Lani!"

"What the hell was that about? Who was that bitch?" Bakugou demanded as the group began to trundle back to the dorms.

"Hm? Oh Lani? We dance together" Toru hummed as they crossed the road.

"You dance, Hagakure?" Midoriya pursued.

"Mm, we're s'posed to be performing at the School festival this year"

"School festival?"

"Yeah, it's still a fair ways away, but there's still so much to do—Midnight-Sensei runs the classes, but we have to do the costumes and the props and stuff"

"That's still pretty cool" Kirishima commented.

"Mm"

* * *

The midday sun had fallen into its afternoon perch by the time the quintet had returned to the UA dorms, laden down with grocery bags. And boy, were they in for a surprise. "…I wasn't going to kill him!" Yaoyorozu's voice floated in down the hall as they exchanged their shoes for slippers. "Just maim him a little!"

"Hm?" Toru followed the voice into lounge area where she found a sight to behold.

Yaoyorozu hung suspended in mid-air whilst Dark Shadow gripped tightly to her waist as she glared evilly down at the boys who had stayed behind—Mineta in particular—and now lay all jumbled about the place. Aizawa's cats lay here and there, many of whom had chosen their classmates as their perches as they lay about in the sun without a care in the world. _Are they…? _Toru wondered as she passed by a painted Kaminari and Sero who were slumped over each other next to the coffee table that bore the remnants of a make-up battle. If she was being honest, it almost looked like a bomb had gone off with the way that everything was scattered about.

"Fun day?" Toru asked while she left the quartet of boys standing gobsmacked in the doorway, stepping over Iida's prone form as she laid the groceries down on the kitchen counter

"Oh yeah" Mina grinned, joining her in the kitchen. "Momo finally broke out the labour pain simulator and we tortured the boys!"

"Aw man! I wanted to see that!"

"Don't worry, I got it _all _on video!" Jiro chimed in.

"Cool"

"Why do you have two giant blueberries?" Mina asked, peering inside. As if in answer, Asui appeared at her shoulder.

"Did—did you get 'em?" Asui yawned, coming over to inspect the grocery bags as she scrubbed at her tired eyes, while Toru unpacked them.

"Tsu love blueberries" Toru replied as if it were obvious. Pulling out the Supies, she handed them to the frog-girl who beamed and immediately hugged the fruit to her chest.

"Did you get my tea?" Yaoyorozu called from her perch still up in the air.

"Uh, I could only get _Pams_, sorry"

"I guess that's fine" Yaoyorozu sighed as Dark Shadow finally let her down. Clearly it wasn't fine, but it was _highly_ unlikely that the local grocery store would sell the fancy tea that the rich girl was used to anyway.

"Um…?" Ochako slumped against the breakfast counter as her eyes scanned the items already laid out.

"…And chocolate for Ochako" Toru turned to the pained brunette who eagerly snatched the golden-wrapped chocolate from her hands and quickly tore into her prize with fervency.

"Plus tampons for Africa" Mina added, ever curious."So…how was the trip to the store?"

"Eh…it wasn't so bad. I ended up just giving them those _Periods for Dummies _pamphlets they have"

"They still have those?"

"Apparently" Toru shrugged. "Mostly it just felt like I was babysitting or something"

"So" Jiro popped into the kitchen where all the girls now gathered, before Mina could go off on another tangent. She waved her phone—the one that presumably held the footage from their day of 'torture'—in the air with a grin. "Movie night?"


	51. Rule #41a

** _Rule #41a: Feminine wiles are a weapon in unto themselves_ **

Having exchanged their clothes for the comfiest set of pyjamas they each had, the girls soon found themselves sequestered in Mina’s room with a million and one pillows and more junk food than they could probably eat. While Toru fiddled with the television in order to get Jiro’s phone connected up so they could watch the footage from the day’s activities; the others went about setting up their nest-like accommodations in the small room where it would undoubtedly turn into a sleepover. “And…done!” Toru scooted back to lean against the side of Mina’s bed alongside Asui as pictures began to flash across the screen. Digging into the chips, the girls sat back ready and waiting to indulge themselves in this sadistic adventure.

* * *

_“_Okay” The footage wobbled for a bit as the cameraman settled down, their fingertips glancing over the camera momentarily before Sero came into focus. Sero stood in the middle of the room where the guys and girls had at some point separated themselves into their respective genders. “Who has it easier? Guys or girls?”

“GUYS!” Came the resounding cry from the girls corner. It almost sounded like a war cry.

“Why do you think guys have it easier?”

“Because when guys have to use the bathroom, anywhere” Ochako replied as she lounged across the couch like a forgotten sock. “All they have to do is unzip their pants and go for it”

“Well, have you ever peed in public?” Mineta drooled.

** _WHACK!_ **

“Ow!” Mineta whined as he slid down the window from where Asui had flung him. She hadn’t even risen from the couch! Still snuggled into Tokoyami’s side, her tongue had leapt from the confines of her blanket burrito, wrapped itself around the grape-haired boy and flung him across the room.

“If I could actually tell you how to be girl” Mina intoned from where she sat cross-legged on the floor. “Stay clean, smell good—“

“I smell good right now!” Chirped Aoyama, practically dancing in his seat as he waved his hands in the air.

“—Get your nails done, shave your _entire _body—arms, legs…”

“That’s a lot of shaving” Commented Sato.

“What are we…talking about?” Asui yawned as she finally sat upright, hair all askew.

“Who has it harder guys or girls?” Jiro supplied, her voice sounding a lot closer than the others as she was clearly filming the entire thing.

“Oh, it’s definitely easier being a guy. Are you kidding?” She replied as she tried to tame her hair into something less wild.

“Seriously?” Sero turned. “Is it really that bad?”

“Women just have to experience so much more…” Jiro started.

“…Shit?” Yaoyorozu ended.

“Yeah, traumatising things like birth”

“And getting your period every month” Whined Ochako as she flopped sideways. Yaoyorozu silently toasted her.

“Like say, if Kaminari was at a store” Said Jiro, “And a man came up to him and said_ ‘Do you have a girlfriend? And where do you come from—?_”

“—He would freeze—!” Interjected Yaoyorozu.

“—He would _shit_ his pants” Jiro amended.

“I would _not!_” Kaminari retorted as everyone dissolved into giggles.

“So how do we decide this?” Sero asked, turning to the girls who suddenly wore mischievous grins and wickedly gleaming eyes. He appeared almost afraid to finish the question. “How do find out what it’s like to be a girl?”

“How about…” Ochako sat upright as her eyes gleamed, her PMS momentarily forgotten. “They run a gauntlet?”

“Gauntlet? What kind of gauntlet?” Yaoyorozu turned, intrigued.

“They could do a whole bunch of challenges—make-up, heels, dress—“

“—But how do we get them to understand periods, ribbit?” Asui asked.

“Ooh! Ooh!” Mina chirped, “We use a labour pain simulator!”

“But where would we get one of those?”

“Hey, Momo…” Mina innocently turned to her friend and blinked her eyes repeatedly as she asked the silent question.

“Oh c’me on, Mina! Momo’s suffering too!” Jiro defended.

“But she’d only have to make one! And with enoughstickers for everyone! Ooh! And we’d get to make them experience a full set of period cramps!”

“…I_ do_ like the sound of that” Yaoyorozu admitted, much to the chagrin of the boys as the girls plotted their demise.

“…Should we be worried?” Kaminari whispered to Sero.

“This suddenly sounds like a bad idea” He replied with a gulp—a gulp he then had to swallow when the girls simultaneously turned on them with matching grins.

“Are ya ready, boys?” Mina grinned.

“Ready—ready for what?” Even Iida appeared nervous.

“To grow some ovaries”

* * *

“So Aoyama, what are your thoughts going into this?” Jiro asked, the camera now aimed at the blonde, interview-style. In the end, only a few of the boys had gathered enough courage to take on the challenge set forth by the girls. 

“We’re about to do make-up and I mean, I’m very confident!” Aoyama sparkled. “It’s much easier, cherie! You squirt the skin-coloured cream on your face and you rub it around really quickly!”

“What about the others? How do you think they’re gonna do?”

“Kaminari and Mineta have no clue as to what they’re doing! Iida & Sero may be my true challengers, but I shall be the dark horse! Neigh!”

The footage was a little shaky as Jiro moved over to interview Sero & Kaminari respectively. Both Mineta and Iida had stationed themselves in front of one of the floor-length mirrors they had managed to scrounge from someones’ rooms and now lay lengthwise across the table; propped up by books. An array of make-up lay scattered about the table and Iida was busy spending the time perfectly lining up his tools as Ochako hovered over his shoulder. Those who weren’t participating gathered around the room in semi-interest as they set up.

“…I _would _say I’d do really well in it” Sero replied in answer to the previous question. “But, I think if Mina heard that, she’d jump out of the shower and just _shank _me in the neck”

“I’m an artist” Kaminari added, mimicking Aoyama’s French accent. “But I’m also dog shit—so probably terrible”

“You kinda already have rosy cheeks” Mineta piped up, turning away from the make-shift vanity for a second or two.

_“Exactly! _I don’t need blush! I just need to go like this!” Kaminari smacked at his cheeks, bringing up a natural reddish hue. “Ugh! I’m ready!”

“Are we ready?” Mina called over to the trio.

“Yeah!” Jiro called back, ushering the two boys over to the table and sat at the head of the table in order to film them all. “So how long do you reckon they’ll need?”

“Well, it takes me ten minutes to do my make-up in the morning…” Ochako mused.

“It takes me an hour…” Trailed Yaoyorozu.

“An hour? Heh. Okay, let’s compromise” Interjected Asui, “Let’s say they get fifteen minutes?”

“Yeah, that sounds good”

“I only need five!” Aoyama bragged.

“Only need five? Oh, you’re confident!”

“I’ll probably need four hours” Commented Kaminari as his eyes swept over the array of products before him.

“ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET…” Mina started.

“What’s this for?” Iida held up an eyelash curler like it was a torture device.

“That’s an eyelash curler” Ochako supplied.

“You _curl _your eyelashes?!” Iida appeared scandalous at the notion. “That sounds incredibly dangerous!”

“Try it” Yaoyorozu offered.

“Uh…I’ll just put it over here for now” 

“…AND START!” Mina called.

“What do I start with?!” Kaminari panicked, hands hovering above the colourful tubes and pencils before him.

“You start with concealer” Jiro supplied helpfully.

“Don’t help him!” Mina scolded.

“It’s all right, these guys don’t know _what the hell _they’re doing anyways”

“Iida you’re super pale!” 

“It doesn’t matter! I shall do my best anyhow!” Iida decreed as he went to work slathering on the concealer like it was paint.

“Is there white-out in the drawer?” Sero joked as he lined his cheeks with a slightly tanner shade.

“I’m ready for combat!” Kaminari declared, making funny faces at himself in the mirror after he _finally _picked up the concealer and lined his cheeks. “This is how bitches get _snapped!”_

Despite Mina’s earlier words against helping the boys in their endeavour, the girls continued to laugh and point out what the boys were doing wrong; and how they best ought to apply the make-up. Aoyama, it seemed, needed no help. “Holy shit!” Mina gasped as she watched the blonde expertly dab at his face with the beauty blender. “Aoyama’s really good at this!”

“Iida, you need to make yourself tanner” Ochako’s voice floated across the frame as the camera zoomed in on the boy’s _very _pale face. 

“Jesus! Bloody Mary over here!” Laughed Asui as the camera panned over to Mineta who bore alarmingly red cheeks. “What did you _do?!”_

_“I don’t know!” _Mineta wailed as he continued to paint his face, each added feature making it worse and worse.

“Wow! Look at Aoyama!”

“How’d you get it so smooth?” Kaminari pestered, glancing between his own reflection and the fellow blonde who had set down his tools, done.

“You guys are idiotes!**” **Aoyama laughed as he postured in front of the mirror like a peacock.

“Is there something I can use to conceal my forehead?” Mineta asked as he brushed his _entire _face with bronzer.

“That’s technique’s actually not half bad, Mineta” Yaoyorozu commented, her tone surprised as she watched the grape-haired boy flicker the brush quickly over his face.

“What are you doing?” Mina laughed as the camera panned over to Iida who appeared to be trying to copy Mineta’s technique; though not very well. “You look like you have a nervous twitch!”

Laughter flowed throughout the room as the boys raced each other to put figure out what the different tools were for and how they were applied—or if they needed to be used at all. PMS momentarily forgotten, the girls especially, appeared to be having a great time as the chosen quintet made fools of themselves. “That’s terrifying!” Jiro laughed at Sero, who appeared dramatically affronted by the comment.

“You—you literally look like a—a killer!” Mina added amongst her gut-busting giggles.

“Wow! What a way to motivate me to do my make-up!” Sero deadpanned.

“You look like you have a fetish for trying to be a porcelain doll!”

“I’m gonna look fucking better than you, bitch!” Came Kaminari’s war cry from off camera. 

“You’d need to fix your eyeliner for that!”

“Oh shit! It’s already fucked up!” The camera zoomed over to find Kaminari painstakingly tracing the rims of his eyes with eyeliner; a black line in which was steadily becoming further and further away from this eye. “Alright, let’s do the wings!”

“Sero did good with his eyelashes” Yaoyorozu commented, peering over the boy’s shoulder at his reflection.

“They’re already there” Sero replied nonchalantly, “I don’t need to do anything”

“Kaminari!” Jiro exclaimed her voice full of disbelief as she stared at his attempt at wings. “What did you _do, _buddy?”

“I just wanted to fly with some wings!” The blonde pouted as everyone who saw ,laughed at the poor attempt. “It’s not that bad, right?”

“You look like a raccoon” 

“Honestly, I applaud Kaminari for taking the big step” Ochako defended, “Right?”

“Exactly!” Asui agreed.

“I’m missing steps and falling down the stairs right now!” Mineta whined as he stared wide-eyed at his reflection in the mirror. How did he get so red?

“You look—you look like a—a prostitute after a long night!” Mina wheezed, folding in half as she laughed.

“You _do!” _Chortled Kaminari, pointing to his friend who spun around ready to pounce.

“What? Like _you’re _any better?!” Mineta snarked. It would’ve looked more intimidating if the pair didn’t look like they had been painted by four year olds.

“Mineta looks like a Russian call girl, Kaminari’s like a little four year old trying to draw his eyes on, Iida looks like a porcelain doll, Sero doesn’t look any different—“ Yaoyorozu listed as Jiro turned the camera to face the girl as she ticked off each person on her fingers.

“—No, he looks like he’s got mascara on” Interjected Asui.

“And Aoyama actually looks decent” Mina ended.

“GAH!” Kaminari’s cry called the focus back to him as he stared terrified at the creature he had created. The ‘wings’ were only the beginning; an alarming amount of red lipstick had been applied to his lips and the garish colour of eyeshadow he had chosen made him look like a clown that had gotten into a fight. “What the fuck is this?! It looks like I cried in a wind tunnel!”

“5, 4, 3” The girls chanted as the timer ticked down. “2, 1 and STOP!”

“Put the brushes down!”

“Oi! Stop! That’s it!”

“Ne~xt!”

* * *

“I’m not sure about this, you guys…” Worried Sero as he and the other boys were tugged and pulled every which way as the girls swarmed on them. After the make-up challenge, the girls had suggested combining a few together so that they could go to lunch at the UA cafeteria—today was noodle day. Strips of hot wax had been applied to their legs while claw-like nail extensions were glued to their fingers and bedazzled & bejewelled. “Is this _really _necessary?”

“Well, it’s nearly lunchtime and shaving takes too long” Mina replied as she furiously rubbed the wax strip between her hands, activating it before she slapped it onto his leg next to the others.

“Don’t worry so much, ribbit” Asui added as she carefully painted the golden claw-like extensions springing from his fingertips with little black and yellow racing stripes.

“And the heels?” 

_“You _wanted to know what it was like to be a girl” Jiro reminded as she relished in the painful scream from Kaminari when she ripped the wax strip off of his legs, although she had to quickly duck out of the way when his Quirk activated and danced through the air.

“Uh, on second thought, maybe I’ll just—!”

“Nope! They’re already on, Se~ro! And now they’ve gotta come off!”

“Witch!”

“Haha!”

As the high-pitched screams of their classmates turned the dorm building into something from a horror movie, it was a wonder no one came running for all the noise they were making. The girls happily moved about, weaving between their captured peers as they decorated them like living dolls. Those who had refused to participate earlier were silently thanking their lucky stars as they sat and watched the ‘torture’ occur. Aoyama appeared to be the only one who enjoyed getting his nails done so much so that he’d forgotten about the waxing of his legs; although the tears in his eyes from the waxing told otherwise. 

Mineta had been pinned down to the floor, courtesy of his own Quirk and a little finessing on Yaoyorozu’s end. Another ball had been shoved into his mouth, acting as a gag after yet another gross and perverted remark at the girl’s expense; Asui had taken great pleasure in waxing him. Next to him, Sero had been hogtied in such a way that it felt like he had been drawn and quartered—he still wasn’t quite sure how the girls had been able to use his own Quirk against him just as they had done to Mineta. At some point, Iida had tried to make a break for it only for Ochako to place him under her Quirk and send him floating. Now he bobbed against the ceiling whilst the gravity girl happily decorated her friends fingers with blue polka-dotted patterns and rhinestones. Kaminari, was arguably the easiest of the bunch, as he had turned to putty not long after the first wax strip had been ripped from his leg. The blonde lay there, fizzing and crackling slightly as Jiro finished off waxing his legs and moved onto painting his new nails. If they had learnt anything after today, it was that girls were _scary._

“How long do these nails usually last?” Tokoyami asked as he peered down at Mina’s handiwork.

“Typically, they can last from anywhere to 2-4 weeks” She replied, carefully painting his nails.

_“A month?!” _Screeched Mineta as he struggled against his restraints.

“Yeah” 

_“What?” _Sero gasped.

“They’re pretty durable” Mina shrugged.

“Now, I feel underdressed” 

“You _are_ underdressed” Shoji pointed to the pyjamas he was still wearing.

“Oh yeah…” Sero stared down at his comic bubble-printed pants. “How are we s’posed to get dressed now?”

“You’ll just have to figure it out” Yaoyorozu grinned.

* * *

“Lunch~time!” Mina sang, as the girls gathered down in the foyer. “C’me on boys!”

“Do they really have to be so tall?!” Sero complained as he precariously waddled over to the group in three inch gladiator leather heels. 

“They’re not _that _tall!” 

“I feel like a ballerina!”

“You’re barely off the floor!”

“All right! All right! We’re coming! We’re coming!” Kaminari called as he, Iida, Aoyama and Mineta all joined them by the door. 

“Oh my God, Iida!” Ochako gasped, “You’re calves look _amazing!”_

“U-uh, thank you” Iida stammered, clearly still unsure about the whole scenario. With freshly waxed legs and blue polka-dotted nails now accompanied by black stilettos, he looked ready for a night out on the town.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Aoyama sang. Although still wobbly on the heels, he was the only one out of the five who was actually able to walk semi-upright on his four inch sparkly heels. “Let us lunch!”

“Right, right, we can do this!” Kaminari pumped himself up as Sato held the door open for them. Jiro was a little sour to note that the black knee-high boots that the blonde wore actually suited him and fit him better than they did her. Mineta’s t-strap heels, on the other hand, did not but they had been the smallest pair of shoes that they had managed to find while the boys had fussed about changing; complaining all the while about their nails. They seemed to have forgotten about the promised labour pain simulator later on.

“We can’t do this!” Mineta wailed as he stared down at the steps like they were Everest. It was almost funny how the boys had dressed up, while the girls had dressed down for their ‘lunch date’ at the cafeteria (the idea to go out had been vehemently vetoed by the boys).

Inevitably, the five minute walk to the campus was filled with laughter and taunts as the five boys waddled alongside their classmates like dinosaurs on ice skates. “C’me on, Denki!” Sero called over his shoulder at the blonde who limped behind the pack. “You can do it!”

“…Some of us are walking to lunch now!” Chirped Mina as she narrated her own recording of the outing. She spared a look over at the limping blonde. “Well, _some _of us are walking, _some _of us are waddling—“

“—Literally limping!” Jiro laughed as she jumped onto the pinkette with a grin.

“How ya doing, Iida?” Ochako called up towards the racer as he walked arm-in-arm with Aoyama, the blonde practically dragging him towards the school.

“It’s. Hard. To. Keep. It. Together” Iida replied, leaning heavily on Aoyama.

“Ha! Look at Kaminari and Sero, ribbit!” Asui laughed, pointing to the pair who had somehow overtaken the group and were now furiously waddling towards the campus.

“The struggle…is real!” Jiro wheezed. “They—they look like baby T-rex!”

“Stop it! Stop it!” Kaminari cried as the pair moved awkwardly in their heels. “Stop calling attention to it!”

Upon reaching the cafeteria, the group were met with a couple of odd looks and whispers from the other students as the boys beelined for a gaggle of tables whilst the others went and got lunch. Thankfully few students occupied the school cafeteria at this time, unfortunately one of those students happened to be a group from class 1-B. “AH HAHAHA!” Monoma cackled madly upon spotting his fellow first years all dressed up in drag, “HAVE THE HORRORS OF HEROISM FINALLY GOTTEN TO THEM? COULD IT BE THAT THEY’VE FINALLY LOST IT? AHAHAHAHA—!”

“Sorry about him” Kendo popped up next to Yaoyorozu, “But he’s got a point—why’re they in drag?”

“They wanted to know what it was like to be a girl” Mina shrugged.

“Uh…what?”

“They didn’t think it was too hard being a girl” Yaoyorozu explained further, “So we’re teaching them—”

“—HOW ARE WE S’POSED TO EAT WITH THESE THINGS?!” Kaminari’s voice sounded from off-screen, followed by several frustrated grunts, rustling of plastic and the laughter of their classmates

* * *

“So periods” Yaoyorozu clapped her hands, garnering attention of all. It appeared to be after lunch now as the group was back in the dorm building and the five chosen boys were sprawled across the living room like broken toys. 

“No!” Iida whined, unable to move from his puddle on the floor. “No more! Please! I concede! Girls have it harder! No more please!”

“But _you _wanted to know why it was so hard to be a girl, and this is only _one_ of the reasons why”

“Then what were the other things for?!” Mineta cried.

“Fun”

“Evil! You’re all evil!”

“Hook ‘em up, Mina!”

“Nooooo!”

A few moments later, the quintet were all reluctantly hooked up to the labour pain simulator that now stay proudly on the living room floor with each of the boys sprawled about it like it was some kind of deity they were praying to. “And on we go!” 

“Huh, it’s not as bad as I thought it’d be” Kaminari propped himself up onto his elbows as the weaker vibrations coursed through him.

“And level 2”

“Wait—! Wha—AHH!”

“Eurgh!” 

“Nooo!”

“Why? What did we do to you?” Each of the boys complained as they experienced the same pain running through curling up into various positions on the floor as the girls watched on like evil scientists.

“You asked stupid questions” Yaoyorozu remarked, sipping at yet another cup of tea as she fiddled with the dial.

“I—ah!—I won’t do it again! Prom—promise!”

“Me too!”

“Stop it! Please!”

“What’s it on?” Mina asked.

“Uh, level 3” Ochako peered over Yaoyorozu’s shoulder as she cackled evilly. 

“Seriously? I’m sure it’s not _that _bad!” Mina remarked as the boys panted like dogs, and tried to yank off the stickers glued to their waists.

“Don’t talk about what you don’t understand, Mina!” Sero whined.

“Fine, hook me up then” She shrugged. 

“Are you sure, Mina, ribbit?” Asui queried.

“I’m serious, this thing goes up to like level 8 and they’re all dead at level 3. I wanna see if it’s _really _painful”

“This’ll be fun!” Kaminari cheered as Mineta made grabby motions for the remote. Yaoyorozu just held it up above his head while Mina was hooked up.

“Hm” Mina hummed as she tried to find the right words. “It kinda feels like…like normal cramps”

“This is normal?!” 

“Keep going”

“Nooo!”

“Alright” Yaoyorozu nodded, turning the dial up another two notches to level 5, making the boys cry out in pain. If they thought level 3 was painful, they were wrong.

“Oh! And there she is!” Mina groaned as she hissed out a breath at the familiar feeling pulsing through her. She folded in half at the feeling, but otherwise remained standing. “Jesus! Fucking cramps!”

“Oh my God…” Iida stared up at the pinkette with disbelieving wide eyes. “You go through this every month?!” 

“Yeah, pretty much” She nodded, straightening up now that she was kind of used to the feeling. “The intensity changes depending on the day in the cycle—sometimes it’s unnoticeable and sometimes I wanna carve my uterus out with a spoon”

While they were distracted, Yaoyorozu took the opportunity to turn up the simulator all the way up to 7. Turning to her with a surprised scream and narrowed eyes, Mina sucked in a deep breath through gritted teeth as the pain radiated through her. “Jesus! Fuck!” She cursed, groaning at the sudden pain increase. “Yep, that hurts!”

“AHHH!”

“God! Why??”

The others laughed at their reactions as Yaoyorozu turned it up the final notch, all the way to 8. “Oh _God!”_ She groaned, folding in half as she collapsed back onto the couch and curled up into a fetal position. Mina stayed like that, breathing heavily until Yaoyorozu finally switched the damn thing off, leaving their victims as a panting, wheezing mess on the living room floor.

“I’m never…making fun…of girls again!” Sero wheezed as Mina uncurled and sat up so she could be unhooked.

“And don’t you forget it!”


	52. Rule #19a

** _Rule #19a: Choose your clothes just as you would choose your weapons_ **

That following Monday after another DFD practice, it was agreed that the 'problem children' (see: those with obvious mutation Quirks) would be the ones to test out the costume prototypes to see what would work for them, and then in turn the others. These problem children included Toru with her invisibility Quirk, Lani with her canine Quirk, Hinata with his feline Quirk, Oishii with the multitude of mouths littering his skin, Ogawa Cho (first year management department) with her winged ankles, Gato Li (first year management department) with his holographic scales and Fujimoto Ena (third year management department) with his parasitical insect hive.

"…Say, Hagakure" Ogawa stood in the school shower next to Toru's, her long red hair running blood red as the water painted it a darker shade. The lights of the school's locker room flickered above them as the girls all around them filled the room with chatter after their latest dance practice.

"Hm?" Toru hummed as she let the warm water wash over her sudsy body and soak into her skin.

"I see Oishii was handling you pretty close there, today"

"So?"

_"So" _Ogawa leant on the tiled shower wall dividing the two stalls; the chubby girl having to stand on her tiptoes to do so. "Do you think he might be 'the one?"

"Eh…" Toru turned to face the shower wall as she closed her eyes in thought, although not about the third year Ogawa was referring to._ Ogawa always acts so sassy & graceful on the dance floor. _Toru mused, peeking out of the corner of her eye at the red head staring at the floating suds clinging to the invisible girl._ But inside, her head's filled with nothing but rainbows and butterflies. _Gossiper she may be, but Cupid she was not; although she often liked to think so. It was often best to give a vague answer least she manipulate it into something else as she was known to do.

"You're no fun!" Ogawa pouted when Toru didn't answer right away.

"Just leave her alone, Ogawa!" Lani called from across the room where she was towelling herself dry.

"Or what? You'll bite me?"

"You wanna find out?"

"Bitch!"

"Cunt!"

Toru smiled at the familiar ribbing shared between the gaggle of girls. Unlike what most would assume, they weren't opposed to cursing or fighting much like many thought they would be; in fact, most of them—at least the ones in DFD anyway—used swears like they were water, throwing them around without any general heat behind them. In an essence it helped to diffuse the power behind the words when other people used them—not that they should have to in the first place, but that's not the point—even if it was only just play-fighting.

Turning around to properly wash her hair (sometimes it paid to be invisible), Toru let her gaze wander over the other girls in the locker room. Besides herself and Ogawa, the only other first years were Matsui Hanako and Kojima Maki. The two were almost polar opposites; where Matsui had long blue hair dripping down her back and angular features that could slice you open, Kojima bore spiky pink hair and soft, rounded features. Based on their Quirks alone (Bubble Breath & Fire Breath respectively), you'd be able to figure out that the two didn't entirely get along.

Her eyes then turned to the only third year girl who still remained in the class (the DFD class mostly consisted of first and second years). Arai Natsume was a girl of soft proportions with a wicked tongue, likely leading to her rumoured multiple offences; with eyes painted so light, she looked to be blind, the girl was surprisingly fierce in battle (or so Toru had heard). Her Quirk in question, puppetry possession, essentially allowed her to turn someone to a living puppet that followed her every move. It was why her eyes were so light, when activated, her victim's eyes became her own in which she looked through; hence possession puppetry.

And finally there was the gaggle of second years scattered about the room in varying stages of disarray. Of course, there was Lani half-dressed in her UA tracksuit across from her, baring the curve of her back and the swish of her golden tail. But there was also Nashiro Sai, a paper white girl with ink black hair that currently fell about her face like a wet mop; if it weren't for the shortness of the haircut, she would surely look like something out of a horror film. Fitting into a pair of grey joggers sat Ito Azumi, the blonde-haired girl Midnight-Sensei had called out on their first day for some derisive snort or snide comment she had made, and finally there was Ando Den whose play-button pupils always seemed to captivate Toru, no matter how many times she stared at them.

"Hey!" Nakamora Bunko suddenly appeared in the doorway of the girls' locker room with both hands slapped over his face and a spare pair of Hinata's blackout goggles strapped over his eyes (it seemed even the boys didn't trust the second year not to peep—especially with his archivist Quirk). "How much longer are you guys going to take?"

"Wha—!"

"Nakamora!"

"Get _out!" _Chorused several of the girls as they scrambled to find something to cover up with. Some even hefting balled socks and half-empty shampoo bottles at the blonde.

"Ow!" Nakamora whined when one of the bottles connected, "Will you just—! Sensei wants to lock up! Stop hitting me! I'm not even looking!"

"Get _out!"_

Grinning at the assault on the poor boy, Toru turned to scrub out the last of the suds from her hair in the slowly cooling water and let her thoughts turn towards the other half of the DFD class. Aside from Nakamora, Hinata and Oishii, the male population of the class was made up of five other boys ranging from first to third year. The only other first year (besides the girls detailed above) in the class was a boy named Gato Li, whose holographic scales really talked for themselves. Although not particularly battle-worthy, his Quirk was rather pretty and complimented her own invisibility Quirk rather well (as pointed out on several occasions).

This left the remaining four boys, who were split evenly between the two year groups with Sano Shin & Takada Noya in second year and Fujimoto Ena and Hara Obi in third year. Sano was a tall boy—tall and reedy—with small beady eyes and springy footsteps which complimented his flora generation Quirk rather well. Takada on the other hand, was rather stocky with his black hair dip-dyed red and quaffed upwards into a floppy quiff.

Which left Fujimoto who wore blackout steampunk-styled goggles to protect his eyes (much the same as Hinata did, but for different reasons) and straggly mud brown hair that flopped about his face like a wet mop. Occasionally, you might spot one of his insects scuttling across his skin as they burrowed deeper into their hive that was his body. And then there was Hara; a broad-shouldered bloke who had a hard time fitting through slim doorways. It seemed in order to make up for his weaker Quirk (Voice Mimicry) the third year had bulked up to an insane level and was still going—Honestly, he could give most body builders a run for their money with those muscles.

As you might've guessed having an odd number of students in a dance class doing a partnered dance for the school festival, might lead to some problems. But as it was, whatever incident had landed Gato into the class had caused him to break his foot sometime before school had started. Recovery Girl had denied his continual pleas for instantaneous healing much to his dismay, citing consequential lessons and an unhealthy reliance on her Quirk for something so simple. Which meant that he had spent most of the dance lessons sitting off to the side—still learning the steps—but unable to participate until the cast and boot came off. In a sense, he was like their waterboy and understudy all rolled into one.

"C'me on girls! Hurry up! Before Nakamora comes back!"

* * *

Evening was winking at the horizon when they arrived back at the first year dorms, arms laden with several packages containing the costume prototypes that Hinata had designed and created. _I feel like a pack mule! _Toru whined as she ascended the steps of her dorm building.

"Ooh! Swanky!" Lani Cooed as she too, hopped up the stairs after admiring the exterior of the building.

"Swanky?" Ogawa knotted her brows in confusion, following after the two. "Who even says 'swanky' anymore?"

"Old fogies, that's who" Teased Toru, throwing an invisible grin over her shoulder at the affronted look Lani wore.

"I am _not old!" _Lani cried.

"Whatever you say, Grandma!" Ogawa laughed as the boys (Oishii, Hinata and Gato) followed after them.

_"I'm not a grandma!"_

"Uh…Hagakure?" Gato murmured, turning to the invisible girl with arms full.

"Hm?" Toru turned to face the holographic boy.

"Where can we change?" He hefted the bags as if in explanation.

"The bathroom's down the back" She nodded towards the hallway off-shooting from Aizawa's room. "Boys are on the left"

"Thanks" He shuffled off, awkwardly skirting her classmates who had turned, curious, at their entrance, with an excited Hinata and an amused Oishii hot on his heels.

"C'me on you two, we still have to try everything on" Toru ushered the two squabbling girls towards the bathroom after the boys, only to be stopped by a curious Kirishima peering over the back of the couch he lounged on alongside his friends.

"Hagakure!" He called, hanging over the back of the couch.

"Hm?" Toru paused, turning to the red head.

"What's going on? Why're they here?"

"Oh! We've got a whole lot of costumes to try on!" She hefted the dress bags in her arms as proof.

"Costumes?" Mina joined the conversation.

"Oh is this from your dance class?" Kirishima replied before Toru could.

"Yeah" Toru nodded, "We're just going through the first ones to see what fit and what works"

"F-first ones?!" Mina gasped, "But there's you've already got like twenty!"

"Yeah, Hinata went a little overboard"

"_I did not!" _Hinata's voice floated out from the boys' bathroom.

_"Yes, you did!" _Ogawa's reply floated out from the girls' bathroom as Toru awkwardly waved goodbye and disappeared down the hall to the bathroom, to change.

After slipping into the bathroom, Toru wasted no time in hanging the dress bag over the front of one of the toilet stall doors before she unzipped the bag and pulled out the first ensemble. Each of the girls' bags held about four each; each of them involving frills and tassels in some fashion. Across from her, Ogawa and Lani were already shoving themselves into their first ones. Ogawa's halter-neck dress fell to her mid-thighs in a teal green and was absolutely _layered_ in tassels."I look like a bookmark!" Ogawa exclaimed, looking herself over.

"A pretty bookmark" Toru offered.

"But I'm still a bookmark!"

"Yeah…"

"Maybe it looks better when it's moving?" Lani suggested, one hand on her hip. In comparison, Lani's halter-neck dress fell to her knees in a combination of black and violet sequinned material. There were less frills on this one, only falling from the hem and bodice like a waterfall.

"We'll see, I guess" Ogawa sighed, turning to inspect the dress further.

"Well, he didn't go sparse on the sequins" Toru hummed as she pulled out her first dress, exchanging her exercise clothes for it. This one was another thigh-length dress that was patterned in black & gold sequins and the sweetheart neckline was formed by the forced slouchiness of the material.

Toru turned to inspect herself in the mirror, twisting this way and that to see every angle of the dress. It was pretty, she couldn't deny that, but that didn't help the feeling of nakedness she felt when wearing it. "I feel naked" She deadpanned, turning to the other girls to get their opinion.

"But it is a _gorgeous _dress!" Ogawa sang, picking up Toru's hands as she spun her around in a circle, letting the tasseled hemline fly.

"And yet…still naked"

"Well, c'me on, we should go test them out before Hinata has an aneurism" Lani interjected with a put-upon sigh.

"Yeah, where're we gonna do that by the way?" Ogawa asked.

"Toru?" Lani peered around the winged-girl.

"Uh, there's a courtyard out back we could use?" Toru offered. "I think it's got lights?"

"Well, if not, we just need to make you sneeze!" Ogawa skipped ahead of the boys coming out in their own (sparkling) tailored shirts (all of them black with either a high or plunging neckline, there was no in-between) and camera in hand.

"I'm not a torch!" Toru refused as she followed after the bubbly girl, leading them towards the courtyard outside. She ignored the piercing stare of her peers as best she could—especially the drooling boys who were not-so-discreetly dealt with. She sent a grateful smile Asui's way, even if the frog-girl couldn't see it.

"Well, I'm not a grandma!" Retorted Lani.

"Sure whatever you say, Grandma!" Ogawa laughed, ducking away from the swat aimed for her head.

"Grandma! Torch! Chatty! Let's go!" Oishii called through cupped hands as he and the boys set up the video camera to shoot them whilst they danced.

_"HEY!"_

"You're dead meat, dude" Fujimoto deadpanned as he finished setting up the tripod.

"Wha—I was just kidding!" Oishii protested, half-heartedly.

"May he rest in peace" Gato jokingly prayed.

"Oh _shove off!"_ The pinkette gave the holographic teen a playful nudge.

"All right!" Lani clapped her hands, "Let's hurry up! We're losing light!"

"Yes ma'am!" Oishii jokingly saluted the canine-girl, before turning to the invisible girl at his right who had been jumping up and down in order to keep warm.

Slipping her hand into Oishii's, the pair waited for the go-ahead before they started going through the spin sequence they had been polishing during practise. Locking hands with Oishii, Toru leant back with one hand tucked behind her head as the music rattled out of Gato's phone. Now locked in a tight grip, the pair spun in a circle, falling back into their place amongst the other (imaginary) dancers in the formation. Cocking out one leg, Toru's spins were slowed slightly before she dropped to the ground for a quick readjustment that soon had her back on her feet and coming around the back of Oishii. This time when she remerged around the front, she gripped tight to both of his hands and leant forwards with one leg cocked and the other dragged along the ground as they spun. The boppy lyrics sang for a rotation or two before the cue came for Toru to hit the floor again; this time readjusting her position so she could return to her feet with ease.

"Alright…" Hinata called, checking the camera's viewfinder. "I think we got it. Lani, you're up next"

"Shall we dance?" Oishii offered his hand again.

"I think I'll take the cat" Lani refused, yanking HInata out from behind the camera, catching him by surprise.

"Wha—but Tsuragamae! I need to watch the footage!"

"The others can do it just fine, besides _you _need to practise too"

"Fi~ne! But just this once!"

"Uh huh, su~re" She nodded patronisingly, and then the music started up again & the dance was played through once more.

* * *

Darkness had fallen by the time all 12 dresses and dress shirts had been tested to Hinata's satisfaction. He had barely given the all clear before Gato had raced Ogawa back inside to change—one because they were shy & the other because they were cold—leaving Toru, Lani & Oishii to pack up. "So you & Gato…" Oishii perked an eyebrow at Toru as they returned to the dorm; his eyes slowly trailing up and down her black and gold tasseled dress, making her feel uncomfortable in a way she had never been before around him. Up ahead, Lani shivered in the silvery-gold off-the-shoulder tasseled nightmare she wore.

"Me & Gato?" Toru reiterated, confused as she walked side-by-side with the pink-haired boy.

"You seemed rather close tonight" He hoisted the tripod higher up his shoulder.

"Yeah…We were dancing…"

"So, it's nothing else?"

"Why would it—?" Toru's confusion didn't falter—Oishii sounded almost possessive. "What are you trying to say, Oishii?"

"Nothing—it's nothing" He shook his head, "Just watching out for a friend, is all"

"Okay…" She wanted to pry further but was drawn away from her confused musings by the scene in front of them. Both Kaminari and Mineta had seemingly plucked up the courage to assault Ogawa for a date or her number, whatever came first. Of course, neither boy was aware of her Quirk and that would be their downfall.

Ogawa's Quirk—while somewhat manifested in the wings sprouting from her ankles—was what had granted her the nickname 'Cupid'. To put it simply, her Quirk allowed her to manipulate the emotions of others via touch either personally or through the arrows that she generated (like feelings manifested). It could be pretty scary—it could also be quite hilarious as Toru was sure it was about to be.

"…I'd say 'God bless you' but it looks like he already did" Kaminari grinned.

"I'm sure you say that to all the girls" Ogawa smiled flirtatiously (clearly trying to hide a laugh) as a single finger ran up over Kaminari's jugular and up to his chin. "A cutie like you"

"Hehe" As predicted, the blonde turned to putty in her hands. He would've likely done so without the use of her Quirk, but it was still fun to watch. At her feet, Mineta stared wide-eyed up at her, dangerously close to looking up her skirt. With a single twitch of her fingers both boys began to twitch violently before their faces scrunched up and they turned to each other with crimson faces.

"You okay, Denki?" Sero glanced at his friend as he burnt crimson, likely watching the exchange to see them get shot down for the umpteenth time.

"Feeling kinda angry…" Kaminari replied before he suddenly turned on Mineta (who bore a similarly angry expression). "YOU ARE THE BEST FRIEND EVER!"

"NO!" Mineta roared in kind. "DON'T PUT THAT ON ME! _YOU'RE _THE BESTEST FRIEND EVER!"

"OH YEAH? WELL, YOU'RE THE BESTEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD! HOW ABOUT _THAT?!"_

"AH HA! _I LOVE_ _YOU!"_

_"I LOVE YOU MORE!"_

Laughter ensued as the two bellowed at each other like elephants in heat before the pair started to grapple with each other, wrestling themselves to the floor. "Haha!" Oishii laughed, leaning heavily on her shoulder as he stared down at the squabbling pair. "Look at them go!"

"What's the big deal?" Mina scoffed from across the room, "I've seen them do that over the toy in the cereal box"

"Don't encourage them, Ogawa!" Toru whined (although she couldn't deny the grin pulling at her lips) as she hopped out from beneath Oishii's grip and ushered the laughing red head back towards the bathrooms to change; all the while, never noticing the possessive eyes glued to her retreating form.


	53. Rule #56

** _Rule #56: Beware the next generation…the children are our future_ **

"DAMMIT!" Roared Bakugou as he stood dressed in full hero costume with an armful of children littered about him like daisies. "WE'RE HEROES! NOT BABYSITTERS!"

"Yes, well, this was our exercise for today" Yaoyorozu replied diplomatically as sticky hands pulled at her long hair. It was true. As part of that day's hero exercise, both classes 1-A _and_ 1-B had joined forces to look after UA's daycare children. That is, children who were typically the offspring of faculty and staff who worked at the school. Aizawa had framed the exercise as a lesson in dealing with difficult civilians; but it was more or less just an excuse for the (daycare) teachers to take a break. Kids were a handful on their own, add developing Quirks into the mix? Well, some tears were to be expected.

Currently, all the first year hero course students were being passed amongst the toddlers like shiny new toys as they moved around training ground beta. It appeared that even All Might had misunderstood the plans for the lesson; although he was currently being suffocated by a gaggle curious children climbing over him like he was part of the playground they were at, to answer any questions. Further down, Aizawa and Vlad King looked to be picnicking with the daycare teachers (if you could call it that) whilst all the kids—high school & daycare—ran amok. _I s'pose they think if we're old enough to save people, we should be old enough to look after some kids. _Toru mused as she absently pushed one of the kids on the swing. _Then again knowing us, I've probably just jinxed it all, haven't I?_

"…I can't believe how much bigger they're making the training grounds!" Mina exclaimed as she passed by, playing tag with Sero, Kaminari and some of the kids. The sounds of construction echoed across the urban area, but Toru knew that they were safe in their small alcove; even if the cranes swung high above their heads and scraped against the blue sky as more towers were added to the already busting simulated city.

"Y'know, we _really _shouldn't be here without wearing hard hats" Kaminari warily eyed one of the cranes in question as it swung its load over the playground.

"Why?" Sero asked as he skirted around tiny outstretched hands.

"You see that guy? The one way up there eating his lunch? He drops a potato chip from that height and it'll cut you in half"

"Really?" Perked up the blue kid next to the blonde, fear swimming in his eyes.

"Uh huh, straight down the middle"

"…I DON'T WANNA BE CUT IN HALF!" Wailed the kid as he scampered off to find shelter beneath the slide.

"Ryu! No! He was just kidding—!" Sero hurried off after the boy as Mina turned on her friend, their game of tag forgotten.

"Nice going, dumbass Denki!" Mina whacked the blonde up the back of the head.

"Ow! Hey!" Kaminari whined, rubbing the back of his head as he pouted. "Hagakure! She just hit me!"

"Kids,_ behave"_ Toru intoned, still pushing her little monster on the swing. "Or I will ground you both"

_"Besides_, that's scientifically impossible" Mina continued.

"Are _you_ calling _my mother_ a liar?" Kaminari sized up the pinkette.

"No, I'm just saying the woman is incredibly loose with her science!"

* * *

"Hey! Hey! C'me 'ere!" Toru scolded as she chased after the little snot-nosed feline monster in front of her. "Don't eat that, Aoi! Aoi! C'me 'ere!" All around her chaos ensued as the hero students were quickly and easily overwhelmed by the boundless energy of the toddlers. Their senseis had long since disappeared, citing more 'important matters' to take care of; meaning that whatever semblance of control they had had over the children had disappeared as soon as their teachers' backs had turned.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Mina crouched next to the weeping kid next to her knee.

"K-Kibo took—took my All Might figurine again!" Wailed Kibo (now holding the headless figurine of a well-loved All Might), as another kid—this one much stockier and wearing a mischievous grin—waved back at them with the now decapitated figurine's head. "He—he snapped his head off!"

"Well,_ that's_ not foreboding" Tokoyami sassed, having overheard the exchange.

"Not at all" Agreed Ojiro as a couple of the kids hung from his tail like they were on the jungle gym.

"Now, that's not very nice Kibo" Mina scolded the clawed boy. "What do you say?"

"So?" Kibo sassed, uncaring as he turned to bury the head in the sandpit.

"No—"

"—YOU BETTER SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN DURING NAP TIME!" Sasuke threatened as he was shooed over to the ball pit that Yaoyorozu had functioned out of a paddling pool.

"Oh my God" Toru smiled, "They're like tiny little Bakugous"

"HUH?!" Said blonde reared his head at the sound of his name from beneath the pile of kids climbing all over him.

"Nothing, Bakugou" She waved away, Aoi now sat on her hip as she sucked her thumb looking for all the world like the cat that got the cream. Pun unintended.

"Hey Kendo! Kendo—!" Pony Tsunotori strode over to the class representative with a little girl sat on her shoulders and clinging to her horns.

"Hm?" Kendo glanced up from where she sat with a couple of the quieter girls as they wove daisy chains.

"—Haha—!" Giggled Ari, the little girl that sat on her shoulders.

_"—Haha!"_ Pony replied in a rather mocking manner. "Kendo! Where's Kojiro?"

"Uh, he's changing some kids nappy" Kendo replied, after sparing a quick glance over her shoulder towards where the gentle giant had disappeared.

"Really? But what about his fear of germs?"

As if in response, said gentle giant returned pulling a little red wagon behind him, one that held the freshly changed child in question and the dirty nappy that was held out as far in front of him as the barbecue tongs would allow. The kid appeared supremely happy with the arrangement, his mischievous grin looking a little wicked on such young features as Kojiro stuffed the nappy into there nearest waste receptacle. "O-okay!" He exclaimed quietly. "We should b-be good now. That nappy weighed m-more than he does"

"WE GOT AN ESCAPEE!" Came the sudden war cry from across the playground where Kirishima and Testutestu were watching over some of the smaller ones around the roundabout and mouse wheel. "PIGTAILS RUNNING!"

That was all the warning they got before a little red headed streak zipped across the playground and made a beeline straight for the fenced-off perimeter. Thankfully, the child didn't get very far before Asui's tongue whipped out from somewhere behind Toru and wrapped itself around the escaping struggling child, snatching her up like a fly. From there, she was easily pulled back to the roundabout in which she was deposited with a sulking pout. "THANKS TSU!" Kirishima called back as his partner scolded the sulking child whilst her peers giggled at the scene.

"Put me down! Put me down!" Aoi struggled in Toru's grip and was quickly placed on her feet before she raced over to whatever had caught her attention over by the slide as Toru meandered over to where Midoriya was worriedly hovering over the Bakugou who remained buried beneath a pile of children whilst Todoroki watched on with barely concealed amusement, despite clearly being completely out of his element. Passing by the ball pit, she was treated to the sight of Monoma and Awase intermittently popping out of the multicoloured balls like meerkats, turning this way and that as their hair crackled with static electricity. "…I think we're safe!" Monoma glanced about with wide eyes, only his skewed blonde head appearing from beneath the balls as he searched for kids from the sanctuary of the ball pit. Sanctuary, which was ultimately destroyed when Tsuki whacked him over the head with a foam noodle; effectively playing whack-a-mole with the blonde as he disappeared back beneath the balls with a startled yelp.

"Did you say we were safe?" Awase appeared next, Sen doing the same to the spiky-haired hero. Toru grinned as both boys were ultimately drawn into a game of real life whack-a-mole, with themselves as the objects of desire.

"Hey Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugou" She nodded to the trio (unlikely as their friendship was, they always seemed to be together).

"Hagakure" Todoroki nodded in return as the toddler in his arms seemed to slip through his grip like Jell-o. Midoriya just sent frantic glances between his friends as he silently asked for help, but didn't want to upset the blonde at their feet. After all, the greenette knew better than any of them how explosive Bakugou could be; and no matter how sturdy children were, it was unlikely that they would appreciate being blasted across the playground. Despite this, Toru couldn't keep the joy from her voice as she asked "Need some help there, Bakugou?" The evil eye she received in return was _totally _worth it.

* * *

Sometime later—whilst all the children had been fed and watered like the little monsters they were—Toru found herself wandering amongst the (thankfully) somewhat tired children on the outskirts of the playground, as she slurped at the instant noodles Sato and Yaoyorozu had managed to scrounge up for all the older kids to share. Sriracha wasn't her go to flavour, but it would do for now; besides she was hungry enough that she'd probably just about eat anything right about now. Much like how Kuroro appeared to be shamelessly bribing some of the toddlers into giving him food.

Letting her gaze rove over the gathered children, Toru felt her brow furrow as she mentally counted off the children she could see. It appeared that they were one short. "Hey Monoma" She turned to the ruffled blonde who sat atop the monkey bars as he angrily slurped his noodles and glared at any children who came near.

"Nn?" So worn out by the day's experience, Monoma had lost all sense of his usual overbearing pomposity.

"Have you seen Rei?"

"What? He's not with you?"

"Oh no…"

"Haha! You lost the guidance counsellor's baby!"

"_You _were the one who saw him last!"

"Just shut up and help me find him!"

"Rei! Rei!" Toru turned wide-eyed to hurriedly search the playground for the canine toddler as Monoma dismounted from the monkey bars and joined in the search. Although his methods were a little more crude.

"Where are you, you little brat?"

"Dude! He's not here!"

"Did you just call me 'dude?" Monoma paled, suddenly realising what was going on, but tried to cover it up with at least some of his usual bravado.

"Focus!" Toru snapped.

"Oh! We are _so _dead!" Monoma worried, gripping tight to his hair as he panicked. "We're gonna be expelled! Oh forget expelled! We're going to prison! Oh forget prison, we're going to summer school! _D'ya know what they do to guys like me in summer school?!"_

"Monoma, calm down—!" Toru tried.

"—No! I can't calm down! _We just lost the Hound Dog-Sensei's baby!"_

_"_It'll be okay—"

"—No! No it's not! This isn't like losing some English teacher's baby—!"  
"—That's because Mic-Sensei doesn't have a kid—"

"—This is big time!"

"Monoma—!"

"—Oh! It's over for us! Goodbye cruel world!"

"Would you quit crying, you big baby?" Toru sighed as she caught sight of said toddler crawling dangerously close to the base of the construction site that lay not too far from them. "He's over there! C'me on!" Pulling the blonde after her, Toru raced over to where she had last seen the canine only to find gone. "Wha—?! What happened?!" Toru spun around trying to search for the boy. "He was just here!"

"This kid's like a cheetah in a nappy!" Monoma despaired. "He's _gotta_ be around here, somewhere! Find him! I don't wanna go to summer school!"

"Split up! He couldn't have gotten far"

* * *

As it turned out, the toddler _had _gotten rather far—or at least he'd hidden himself so well that the pair of teens had scrambled about the place like headless chickens as they searched for him; their actions growing ever-frantic as the day drew to a close and the pick-up time grew ever closer. Unfortunately, the pair were far enough from their peers that any possible help was unlikely to come.

"REI! REI!"

"REI! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Any luck?" Monoma called across the courtyard as the pair flickered about the scaffoldings and littered tools.

"No!" Toru whined.

"Aw! Look—look if we can't find this baby, I say we just give Hound Dog-Sensei something that just looks like one"

"What are you talking about?" Toru asked confusedly as she regrouped with Monoma.

"I'm talking about slapping a nappy on a teddy bear and putting it in a pre-school uniform!"

"Seriously—?"

"—Aah!" The high-pitched squeal cut through their conversation before any more could be said. And Toru was thankful that it did as the two teens snapped around at the noise to find Inui Rei happily seated atop a pile of concrete bags in the corner of the courtyard.

"There you are, you _little shit!" _Monoma cried. Toru was unsure if the tears were happy, pissy or just from exhaustion.

"Language!" Toru half-heartedly slapped the blonde's arm, although she was thinking something similar.

"Hey, baby Rei!" Monoma fell to his knees as he slowly crawled towards the toddler like he was approaching a wild animal. In the moment, the baby-voice was well-justified, but looking back it was ridiculous. "Who doesn't want to get Neito expelled? You don't! No, you don't! Stay right there!"

"Whose a good boy?" Toru cooed as she followed after the blonde, not really questioning his methods if they got the result they desired. _"You're_ a good boy! Yes, you are—!"

Their efforts were quickly cut short however when Rei was yanked skywards by the platform in which the concrete bags sat. In doing so, the actions released delighted giggles from the toddler as both Monoma and Toru jumped to their feet, moods quickly swinging in the other direction. "Hey—!" Monoma fruitlessly tried to reach for the toddler as he flew out of their reach. "No! No! Stop!"

"You're _not _a good boy!" Toru scolded uselessly, "You're a very, _very _bad boy!"

"My baby! MY BABY! SOMEBODY SAVE MY BABY!" While Monoma screeched in panic, Toru quickly shot forth and began to climb the scaffolding in front of them. With practised movements, the invisible girl easily scaled the structure as she hauled ass after their escapee.

Soon enough, the girl pulled herself up onto the furthermost reaches of the steel scaffolding and tried her best not to glance down at her feet where the playground now looked like a blur of paint on a muted canvas; their peers no more than ants and the toddlers mere specks. _"Ahem!"_ Monoma cleared his throat as he clung to an adjacent steel beam.

"Monoma?" Toru's brows furrowed. "How the hell did you get up here?"

"I took the elevator"

"Oh…"

"Look! You gotta stop fooling around, Hagakure!"

"I'm _not!"_

"Hound Dog-Sensei will be back for Rei any minute_"_

"Monoma, I'm _not _fooling around! I just climbed all the way up here—!"

"—Hagakure! Look! There he is!" The blonde cut in as he pointed off towards the side where the canine toddler now happily sat close to the edge. "I got this!" He gripped tight to the vertical beam at his back and leant out slightly to scold the boy. "Hey! You get back here _this instant_ young man!"

"Seriously?" Again, Toru raised a brow at the copycat.

"Whelp, that's all I've got" Monoma shrugged noncommittally when Rei didn't even seem to register what was going on. Rolling her eyes at the blonde's 'attempt', Toru skirted around the beam at her back and tip-toed after the toddler who must've had some kind of sixth sense as he began to crawl _away again._

"No! No, no, no!" Toru leapt forward, fruitlessly trying to reach for the boy and cursing herself that she could no longer (as far as she knew) fly. When his shirt slipped through her fingers, Toru felt the world come out from underneath her (and not just because she was dangling over the ground seven stories in the air).

"MY BABY!" Monoma's cry sounded over her shoulder as Toru fearfully watched the toddler fall. A fear which was quickly replaced with relief when he landed on an ascending beam being pulled skywards by an adjacent crane. Why the construction workers didn't just stop and help, Toru didn't know, but she was grateful for the sudden appearance of the tool. Quickly climbing to her feet, she followed after Monoma as they scaled further up the steel frames.

Another story later and the pair were again met with the ascending baby; with Monoma a little worse for wear, Toru wasted no time in launching herself forward and gripping tight to one end of the floating steel beam. A choice that probably wasn't the best at the time. "Hagakure! He's slipping!" Monoma called out. With the added weight to one end of the beam, Rei easily slid down the steel like it was a slide and into the invisible girl's waiting hands.

"Got 'im!" She cried, relief evident in her voice as she hung from the steel beam by one hand whilst the other gripped tight to the boy's collar. "Monoma! I'm losing my grip!"

"Uh…" Scrambling for something to help him, the blonde quickly snatched a nearby hook and clipped it to the back of his waistcoat. Swinging out across the landscape, Monoma easily snatched the canine toddler from the invisible girl's grip and cradled him to his chest.

"Nice save!" Toru called back as she eventually hauled herself up onto the beam as she had planned to do before.

"I'm never having kids!" Monoma exclaimed, clearly exhausted.

"And the world is better for it!" She grinned at the muted glare sent over the boy's head at her. "Look! Here comes Hound Dog-Sensei!" She glanced down at the ground in time to see the trickle of teachers coming to pick up their offspring. "I'll lower you down!"

Jumping back onto the scaffolding, Toru easily manoeuvred herself over to the controls for the mechanical hook and it didn't take long for her to figure out how to use it. Pushing the right buttons, she lowered both teen and toddler down through the stories to the ground below and it was only once they had safely met the ground that she stopped, leaning over with hands on her knees in relief. "Thank God!" She sighed. "Now, time to get down…I think I'll take the elevator this time"

* * *

Once back on the ground, Toru quietly joined Monoma at his side as he returned the troublemaking toddler to his parent. The tail end of their conversation floated over her and she wondered just what kind of conversation she had wandered into. "…No…why?" Monoma stalled.

"Oh! Because he's absolutely _terrified _of heights" Hound Dog replied as he retrieved his son from the blonde's arms.

"Sure!" Monoma sounded a little hysterical—not that she could blame him. "Okay, okay"

"Thanks for everything you did today, I'll see you at school!"

"Well, that was fun" Toru commented dryly; taking great pleasure in the way the copycat jumped at her sudden appearance as the two wandered back to the playground.

"Geez! Wear a bell!"

"Hey—!" Whatever comeback Toru had lined up was quickly cut short by the sudden appearance of both Kirishima and Bakugou who seemed to have lost the last of their dignity. Somehow, Bakugou had mounted Kirishima's shoulders and was clinging to his headband like they were reins. "TOOT TOOT! BEST FRIENDS COMING THROUGH!" Kirishima declared as he bulldozed his way across the playground.

"OUTTA THE WAY FUCKERS!" Cheered Bakugou, whose exhaustion had apparently turned off all inhibitors.

"Bakugou! Kirishima!" Iida appeared at the edges of their dust cloud, frantically waving his hands as he tried to get them to stop. Everyone else just watched on amused and tired.

"…Part of me wants to ask" Monoma stared at the spectacle as if he was _really _seeing them for the first time. "The other part says knowing will be far more disturbing than anything I could come up with. So I'm just gonna finish eating my cold noodles"

"Good call" Toru agreed.


	54. Rule #38

** _Rule #38: Your case, your lead_ **

"Y'know what we should do?" Sato proposed as he stared longingly into the sparse fridge. "We should have, like a celebratory dinner before exams tomorrow"

"Hm?" Toru perked up in interest at the thought; peering over the top of her book as she perched on a stool behind the breakfast counter. In front of her, Bakugou sat on the kitchen counter hunched over his bowl of cereal as he watched Kirishima and Sero animatedly argue over which of their favourite forgiven superheroes were better.

'Well, we _have_ worked hard these last few weeks…" Todoroki agreed as he absently petted the fat cat sunning himself on the windowsill above the sink.

"Well, what do you wanna do?" Midoriya added from in between the heterochromatic and the explosive teen, "Yakitori, maybe?"

"Nah, I want it to be something special…" Sato denied, leaning against the fridge door in contemplation.

"I know a recipe for acorn noodles, if that's what you want…" Toru proposed, swinging her feet above the ground as she bookmarked her page.

"Acorn noodles?" Sato popped up from the fridge and turned to the invisible girl with knotted brows. A look of recognition flashing in his eyes at the words.

"Yeah, they're pretty good" She nodded, "They sold out at our school festival last year"

"Wait—the ones at Kunugigaoka Junior High reviewed by Yuji Norita the infamous food blogger?!" Sato gushed. _"Those_ acorn noodles?!"

"Yeah…?"

"Yes! Absolutely _yes_! Oh my God! You _have _to tell me the recipe!" He squealed, bouncing up and down with barely contained excitement; much like how Mina did whenever she got excited over something.

"Uh…okay" Toru leant back slightly as Sato fangirled. "Sure"

"Y'know they're just noodles, right?" Bakugou slurped at the milk in his bowl and gaining a milkstache for his efforts.

"They're not _just _noodles! A fusion of natural elements and cooking so expertly woven together!" Sato spun to face the blonde with an aghast expression. It was the most expressive Toru had ever seen the quiet teen be. "They were the dark horse of the Kunugigaoka school festival! They're a top tier school with influence that rivals UA! Students from that school are insanely successful! Oh! I _so _wanted to try them when I heard about them and now I can~!"

"Uh…translation?" Kirishima blankly turned to the invisible girl.

"They're homemade noodles that taste good" She supplied.

"Oh, okay"

"Are they really _that _good?" Todoroki queried in interest.

"I mean, I guess—we sold out halfway through the third day, so general census says yes"

"I meant the school…"

"Oh, yeah, I guess"

"You went to a top tier school Hagakure?" Midoriya turned wide-eyed to the invisible girl as his tone flew up a few registers.

"Yeah, uh, Kunugigaoka's got quite the reputation" Toru scratched at her cheek absently, "But I was in the third class, so we were more or less shunted off to the side"

"What—?" Kirishima puzzled.

"You were a dropout, Sunshine?" Bakugou laughed, flinging his wet spoon around as he gestured with it. "What you do? Kick the wrong guy?"

"Eh, black sheep, y'know…" She shrugged noncommittally. She'd long gotten over the resentment about the corner the principal had forced them into. Besides, look where she was now; who's to say what would've happened if she hadn't been in 3E? Despite their treatment at the hands of the rest of the school body, 3E was undeniably her favourite year even with everything that had happened.

"_C'me on! _Let's go~!" Sato chirped, easily brushing over the rest of the conversation as he buzzed with excitement.

* * *

_How did this happen again? _Toru mused as she glanced up and down the train car at the gaggle of boys Sato had managed to scrounge up for the shopping excursion. Seated in front of the boys in one of the few spare seats, the invisible girl was able to watch as the pairs left and right moved and swayed with the movement of the train as it swung around the bends & corners. Kirishima practically clung to Bakugou who looked a little put-out by the action but did nothing to stop him as he gripped to the strap above his head. Next there was Midoriya (who was as equally short as she was) who clung to Todoroki's free hand in an attempt to stay upright, and finally there was Sato himself who stood in front of her, chatting her ear off.

_It's probably a good thing Iida isn't here. _Toru mused as her legs swung clear above the ground despite being seated (as per usual). The train—which was usually crowded no matter the day—felt like it was bulging in its capacity as people moved about the city that Sunday morning. _He's usually pretty anal about this kind of thing. _Toru nodded along politely to whatever Sato was saying (her jangling jingle bell earrings and purple sunglasses really the only thing to signify that she was listening). Across the way, an elderly couple were all rugged up against the brisk morning weather as they chatted about what they would find at the Street Market that morning, whilst a pair of lovebirds a little further down could barely keep their hands off of each other.

Funnily enough, the gaggle of teenagers were headed in the same direction—the Street Market, that is—each bundled up in their own clothes and a recipe list scribbled down on her hand. Toru's eyes trailed over each of the boys, her mind not quite connecting her classmates with the teens in front of her. Just as with the childish idea that teachers slept at school, it was a little odd seeing her classmates outside of class—even though they had been living in the same building for some time now. It was not just that however, it appeared that of the six of them, Bakugou was the best dressed (something which he likely owed to his parents working in the fashion industry) in the denim jacket and slim joggers. Todoroki was next in an open brown peacoat, jeans and matching scarf. Which admittedly, was a little odd to see on the fire-ice user.

_Shouldn't Todoroki be impervious to the cold? _Toru thought as her gaze drifted over to Midoriya who bore several layers, one of which was his iconic basic tee which read: _CLEAN SHIRT. _Kirishima wore a bleached denim jacket lined with fluffy sherpa. His razor sharp hair had been stuffed inside a slouchy beanie, leaving small tufts to escape here and there and matched the salmon t-shirt he wore beneath. Lastly there was Sato who had bundled himself into a multicoloured puffer vest and an alumni hoodie (likely from his junior high). In fact, compared to the boys Toru felt a little underdressed. Where the boys had dressed to impress, Toru had dressed for comfort.

Aside from her sunglasses and bell earrings, the invisible girl had pulled on a grey pinafore dress overtop of a plain blouse and a pair of graphic tights; plus one of her mother's old garishly-patterned sweaters that enveloped her small frame like a blanket. All-in-all, she more or less stood out like a sore thumb amongst the boys—not that she totally cared. All people would see was a jumble floating clothes anyway and that _always _turned heads. Tapping on her shoulder brought Toru out of her thoughts in time to see that they had finally reached their stop. Filing after Sato, the invisible girl plucked up her bag and wove her way through the crowd towards the platform where they met up with the others.

"So where is this thing anyway?" Kirishima walked arm-in-arm with Bakugou as the gaggle of teenagers traipsed through the train station and off in the direction of the street market.

"Uh, not far" Toru replied over Sato's incessant mutterings that just seemed to flow together into one long string of excitement. The street market in question was something that she had visited often over the past year whilst living with her grandparents (not so much now that Gramps had moved into the retirement home though), and skirted pretty close to the Yoshiwara district where their apartment was located. Admittedly, she was a little nervous bringing her classmates so close to the area (Todoroki didn't really need any more reason to suspect her of being some kind of Yakuza princess), but she preferred shopping there anyway.

With each and every step closer to the neon-clad streets, she felt herself relax slightly despite herself; in comparison the boys on her arm grew tenser with each step. It certainly didn't help things when they passed by one of the street-facing windows displaying scantily-dressed women like mannequins. "What are they…?" Midoriya's voice rose several octaves as they trundled by, each of the boys flushing several shades of red at the elder women who leered down at them.

"What's that in your voice, Mido~riya?" Toru teased, spinning on her heel to face the blushing boys as they went.

"Wha—what's what in my voice?" The greenette's eyes darted around looking anywhere but the women now behind them or the invisible girl in front.

"Oh my God! You think she's pretty!" Toru grinned, clearly having fun with them.

"What—! I _never _said that!"

_"Ooh! _You _totally _do! So, go say hi, lover boy!"

"Look! The—the light's green! L-let's go!" Midoriya raced forward, intent on getting as far away from the storefront as quickly as possible.

"That was mean" Todoroki murmured in her ear as she slowed a little while crossing the street.

"It was just a joke" Toru shrugged in reply, not seeing anything wrong with what she had said. It was pretty tame compared to the things the girls discussed outside of the classroom or the things they had talked about in 3-E. It's not like she had suggested they go and fuck or something.

A couple of more twists and turns later, Toru led the group towards the crowded alleyway lined with stalls of every shape and size. Some stalls erupted from the front of their adjacent stores whilst others stood alone selling their bits and bobs to the passing public. Layers of food stood ready and waiting beneath a fog of spices & incense, and multicoloured lantern-littered bunting that lined the canopies. The cosy little nook was a far cry from any of the grocery stores in central Musutafu; certainly far different from the one she had taken the boys to on their most recent period run.

"Aah!" Sato stared wide-eyed at the spectacle before him like a child on Christmas. His excitement was almost palpable by this point.

"I still don't see why we couldn't go to one closer to the dorms" Bakugou grumbled as he shoved his hands into his pockets, eyes roving over the display before them with a very different demeanour firmly in place. Toru still wasn't quite sure how Sato had convinced the fiery blonde to come along on their shopping trip; sure she knew that he, Midoriya and Todoroki usually did so together with Kirishima occasionally tagging along to keep the blonde in line, but still.

"Cause I like _this_ one" Toru replied childishly as she inspected a nearby stall with its earthen yams right at the front. She didn't have to look to know that the blonde was likely glaring at her in reply, he was rather predictable like that.

Soon enough the early morning crowds began to thicken as the early morning chill settled into something a little warmer and the early risers were replaced with the night owls clearly sent out on a grocery run far too early for their liking. The invisible girl grin unabashedly at a young man across from her who looked like he had been pulled backwards through a hedge as he paid for his things. By this point, the gaggle of teenagers had spread out amongst the stalls just browsing the items offered to them, and somehow silently breaking off into pairs at some point to do so. Sato had remained by her side as the two discussed food like Midoriya did his heroes and haggled over prices with the stall owners. Although not a certified foodie herself, Toru loved food—what teenager didn't?—& enjoyed baking here and there. In the end, wasn't that kinda the same thing?

At some point Kirishima had pulled Bakugou over to the hole-in-the-wall magic shop which sold all the stereotypical items one might associate with such a hobby. Toru had never seen Bakugou look so patient before, especially when she spotted the pair in one of the windows trying to pull a Chinese finger trap off of the red head's fingers. A little further down found Todoroki and Midoriya hidden away amongst the towering piles of books of some ancient second-hand bookstore. From what she could see, the greenette and sequestered himself amongst the shelves of retro comic books (most pertaining to the heroes of old) with sparkly eyes of wonder. The heterochromatic teen meanwhile, appeared to be consumed in some kind of science-fiction novel, if the cover was anything to go by.

Tugging the hover wagon behind her as she went. The hoverboard (already ladled with several bags of vegetables) technology lay strapped to the undercarriage of the little red wagon and replaced the rickety little trundler wheels, allowing for easier movements. It also helped that the item shrank and grew on command to fit into your pocket and so on. "G'morning Mrs Saito!" Toru greeted the wrinkly old woman as she parked herself in front of the butchery.

"Ah, a g'morning to you too" Mrs Saito replied, baring a gummy smile at the pair of teens. "What can I do you for?"

"Uh…" Toru spared a glance towards the list of ingredients scribbled on her hand. "Pork bones, please"

"Pork bones? Ma, doing something special today, are we? With your boyfriend, perhaps?" Her gleaming eyes tracked over to Sato who choked at the comment.

"Uh, n-no, no! He's not my boyfriend!" Toru spluttered, stumbling over her words a little in her hasty reply. "We—we've got an important exam tomorrow! And—and we wanted to do something special for our friends—!"

"Of course, of course!" Mrs Saito agreed easily, her smile never wavering. Toru knew her cheeks had flushed in embarrassment at the old lady's words at first, and then again, even more so at the tone she had used in her reply. "I'll be right back, dearie"

Whilst the little old lady shuffled back inside the adjacent shop that the stall backed on to Toru and Sato remained awkwardly outside, rocking on their heels and resolutely turned away from each other. It wasn't until Toru felt something land on her shoulder that she turned to face the taller boy, assuming that he had placed his hand there to get her attention. It wasn't. Her scream bounced off of the alley's walls and echoed around them as she leapt backwards, practically falling over herself as she mounted the hover wagon in an effort to get away from the large fuzzy arachnid that had been perched on her shoulder.

Unsurprisingly, the sudden noise had scared anyone in close vicinity (that was until they saw what had scared her, before they returned to whatever had preoccupied them beforehand with a hidden/knowing smile on their lips). Sato jumped a good foot in the air, whilst their remaining classmates erupted from their respective stores (Kirishima _still _locked inside the finger trap) and rushed over to find Toru atop the little wagon as she cowered away from the robotic spider on the ground and a little kid practically pissing himself in the doorway of the butchery. "HOSHI!" Toru cried, turning to the cackling boy as the remote controlled spider wandered back over to him. "YOU_ SUCK!"_

_"Haha!_ That's—ha!—that's never not funny!" Hoshi wheezed, the corners of his eyes filling with tears from laughing so hard. His floppy blonde hair covered the majority of his face as he clutched onto his belly, shielding the splatter of freckles decorating his cheeks and nose.

"A spider?" Bakugou jerked an unamused eyebrow in her direction. The tenseness that had been present when they had arrived, bled from their statures as they saw that their classmate was fine. "Really?"

"…Don't like spiders" Toru mumbled bashfully as she slowly dismounted from the wagon and returned to the stall front with shoulders up around her ears as Hoshi's laughter trickled off, but his mischievous grin remained.

"What's that? Five for me and three for you?"

"I should set you on fire!" Toru replied playfully as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"But you _love _me!" Hoshi grinned, sauntering back into the butchery as he ducked beneath his grandmother's outstretched arms, taking the whack to the back of the head with much grace.

"Nngh!" She childishly stuck her tongue out at his retreating back just as Mrs Saito returned with the pork bones in hand. As the pair went about finishing up the purchase, the boys filtered back out into the crowds, a little less tense than what they had been a few moments ago.

"Hey! Watch it!" Snapped Bakugou, pulling Toru from her goodbyes in time to see the little girl who had bumped into the blonde scurry by. She didn't need to be an assassin to know what the kid had done. And from the irate expression now spreading across the blonde's features, it was likely that he had discovered too, albeit a little slower. So it was with practised movements that the invisible girl easily stuck her foot out as the little girl passed her by, tripping her. Toru tried to ignore the eyes on her as she pretended to help the girl to her feet and used the brief moment in which the girl's hands were free from the deep pockets of her oversized All Might hoodie, to slip her own fingers inside and retrieve Bakugou's wallet from its confines. After waving off the now irate girl, Toru slipped the pinched wallet back into the blonde's pocket as if it had never disappeared. "Wha—?" Bakugou's gaze snapped towards the invisible girl as she quickly went about situating the bag of pork bones amongst the rest of the groceries.

"You should be more careful" Toru replied absently over her shoulder.

"How did you—?" Kirishima puzzled, peering over Bakugou's shoulder.

"The Yoshiwara district's, like, two blocks over" She shrugged as if it were obvious. "Pickpockets are the least of your worries out here"

"Wait! What?"

"Ooh! Acorns! _Yes!"_ She made a show of glancing over towards a nearby stall selling nuts of all kinds as she pushed passed the pair and easily dismissed any more complaints or further inquiries.

"Hagakure—!"

"—And in bulk? Don't mind if I do!"

* * *

Back at the dorms, Sato easily took command of the kitchen and set to work tasking his classmates with various chores. Iida's newly acquired vegetable peeling skills (courtesy of the training camp some weeks previous) and Bakugou's surprisingly precise chopping skills were put to the test when the pair of boys were tasked with peeling and slicing the various vegetables for the broth and noodles. Meanwhile, Mina, Ochako and Asui sat peeling the large amount of acorns the teens had purchased. Occasionally the bowl of peeled acorns would be moved over to Kirishima, who was having great fun beating them into a paste.

Next in the production line was the dough itself, this job had been allocated to Toru whose arms were starting to tire from all the kneading she was doing. When the dough was done, it was then passed over to Sato and Todoroki, who took great care in feeding the dough through little rotund noodle machine Sato had magically produced from the depths of his room. And lastly there was Yaoyorozu who had taken on the role of creating the broth (under careful instructions) with the idea that her elegant palate would be able to distinguish the right balance needed.

Chatter moulded with the crackle of the radio and laughter of her peers as they cooked together, filling the room with a kind of contentedness that usually only came with making something by your own hand. it certainly helped that it smelled great. The delicious aroma of the different components of the meal floated about the lower levels of the dorm building making several stomachs growl and mouths water. Toru had no doubt that every last morsel of the noodles would be devoured that night.


	55. Rule #36

** _Rule #36: If you feel like you're being played, you probably are_ **

The next day found twenty nervous students and one perpetually exasperated teacher trickling off of the bus they had packed themselves into; after they had _finally_ arrived at the National Dagoba Arena for their Provisional Licensing Exam. Several tense moments had been spent filled with anxious mutterings and worried gestures. Systematically plucking the individual cat hairs from her school skirt, Toru tried to abate her nerves as she stepped off of the bus and slipped in amongst her classmates where they gathered on the curb. "Er…I'm getting kinda nervous!" Jiro whined from beside her.

"I wonder what they're gonna make us do?" Mineta worried as he rocked back and forth on his heels. "Ah! What if I can't get my license?"

"Mineta!" Aizawa suddenly dropped into the grape boy's field of vision, "Don't ask if you can, say that you will"

"Right sir! I've so got this!" His voice said otherwise. Rising to his feet Aizawa then turned to the rest of the class who seemed to share similar sentiments as the short boy, sentiments that seen clearly on their terrified and anxious faces. "If you can pass this test and get your provisional licenses then you novices eggs will hatch into chicks—you'll be semi-pros. I expect your best"

"Alright!" Cheered Kaminari, easily brushing aside his doubts. "I can't wait to be a heroic chicken!"

"Let's call out the usual, you guys!" Kirishima added. "On my mark! PLUS—!"

"—ULTRA!" The enthusiastic voice that answered was not one that any of them recognised.

Jumping at the sudden noise with a quietly hissed curse under her breath, Toru turned to find a rather tall and well-built teen standing directly over her pair of pumped up classmates—classmates who both jumped about a foot in the air at his sudden appearance.

"Y'know it's pretty rude to barge into other people's huddles like that, Inasa" One of his violet-haired classmates scolded from behind him. Peering around the large boy—Inasa—Toru spotted the speaker and could've sworn that it was Hitoshi, if not for the different school uniform. Crisp white shirts accented by the lapels of navy and matching berets adorned each of the students—some only just barely.

"Oh! Pardon me!" Inasa gasped, as if the thought hadn't even occurred to him. "I AM SO VERY, EXTREMELY SORRY—!"

"Who _is _this guy?!" Kaminari blurted out what they were all thinking as the taller teen smashed his head into the ground with the same enthusiasm that Monoma often expressed when the two first year classes were together. "I _do not _trust his enthusiasm!"

"Hey! Look at their uniforms!" Jiro noted next.

"They're from that famous school on the other side of Japan!" Sero added.

"UA in the east" Bakugou ended, "Shiketsu in the west"

"—I WANTED TO SAY IT JUST ONCE!" Inasa continued unperturbed. "PLUS ULTRA! SEE! I REALLY LOVE UA HIGH SCHOOL! I AM _EXTREMELY _HONOURED TO COMPETE AGAINST SUCH INCREDIBLE STUDENTS!I AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!"

"Is he bleeding?" Toru puzzled as Inasa's classmates ushered him in towards the arena without so much as a glance back at their enthusiastic peer.

"Inasa Yoarashi" Aizawa murmured.

"Do you know that guy, Aizawa-Sensei?" Toru asked.

"Indeed. He's strong—"

"Huh?" 1-A chorused, sharing wide-eyed glances between each other. Aizawa barely ever handed out compliments like that; usually they were just told that they were being problem children.

"—He's the same years you are and received the top scores for students admitted through the recommendations. But for some unknown reason he turned down his acceptance to UA and went to Shiketsu"

"Wait—!" Midoriya breathed, "He's…our age?"

"Hold on" Sero interjected, confusion evident in his tone. "Is anyone else confused here? This guy says that he loves our school, but he turned down his chance to enrol when it was offered?"

"Yeah" Agreed Mina. "What a weirdo"

"Maybe, but he's the real deal, so keep an eye on him" Aizawa warned.

_Just how good is this guy?! _Toru pondered as her gaze followed after the trio of Shiketsu students wandering away and merging with the rest of the crowd making their way inside.

"Era~ser!" A bright voice suddenly chirped from somewhere off to the right, drawing everyone's attention over to the newest set of arrivals. Arrivals, who had peaked their interest when Aizawa had violently cringed at the sound of the voice. "I'd know that scowl any~where! I saw you on TV and at the Sports Festival! It's been a while since we were this close in person!"

"She looks familiar…" Mused Midoriya as the bubbly teal-haired woman wondered closer. She was clearly a Pro of some kind, but her appearance wasn't ringing any bells for the invisible girl nor her classmates.

"Let's get married~!" The heroine proposed joyously.

"No" Aizawa denied vehemently.

Next to Toru, Mina happily swooned at the scene—it was like something right out of one of her romance novels. Blergh! The heroine easily burst into laughter, whether it was forced or not Toru didn't know, but there was something about her that the invisible girl seemed to like. Was it the easygoing attitude? Or the brightly coloured costume with all the smiley-faced stickers? "Haha! No? Good one! You're a real laughing riot, buddy!" She wheezed, bending in half at the waist.

"As per usual, you're impossible, Joke" Aizawa drawled, hands fisted in his pockets and shoulder tensed.

"—She's the Smile Hero: Ms Joke!" Midoriya suddenly gushed from somewhere behind Toru, making her jump once more at the sudden outburst. "Her Quirk's Outburst! She forces those near her to laugh, dulling their thinking and their movements! Her fights against villains are full of craziness!"

"Oh! So _that's _why!" Mina clapped her hands happily as something registered in that pink brain of hers. "She's tons of fun and Sensei's no fun at all! She com~pletes him!" Toru could barely smuggle the snort and following sniggers into her hands at the comment punctuated by Mina drawing a heart in the air as she talked. The glare Aizawa sent their way certainly didn't help things.

"If you marry me, then we can make a happy with never-ending laughter!" Joke proposed again.

"That sounds like an _actual _nightmare" Aizawa shot down mercilessly with his shoulders now up around his ears as he was dealt laughter from both his students and his colleague.

"It seems like you two are close" Asui noted, a grin pulling at the corner of her lips as Toru and Mina tried to get their giggles under control.

"Our agencies were near each other!" Joke replied, easily wearing her heart on her sleeve. "As young heroes striving to make a difference in the world, a mutual love _bloomed—!"_

"—No! It _didn't!" _Aizawa denied. Toru had never heard him shoot something down so quickly—well maybe, Mineta's pervy advances on the girls, but that was about it.

"I do miss your quick retorts! You're my favourite person to tease future husband!"

"So Joke" Aizawa heaved a sigh as if collecting himself for the conversation ahead like he was going off to war. "If you're here, then that must mean—"

"—That's right! Over here, everyone!" Joke waved over her shoulder towards yet another group of high school kids. These ones were clearly older than them and bore a silver polo shirt and black pants/skirt as their uniform. "This is UA! Come say hi!" She turned back to 1-A for introductions, greenly proudly as she did so. "They're second years from Ketsubutsu Academy; this is Class 2, they're _my _students"

Readjusting the grip of her costume case, Toru watched on with interest as the black-haired boy in front leapt forward and clasped Midoriya's scarred hands in his own. "Hey! I'm Shindo!" He greeted brightly. "Seems like UA's had a lot of trouble this year! Must've been tough for you!"

"Er…y-yeah" Midoriya sputtered, seemingly little off put by his bubbly attitude—a complete 180 from the Shiketsu greeting.

"—But even so, you're all still aiming to become Pro heroes despite those hardships!" Shindo moved down the front line of students, shaking each and every hand he could grab. "It's wonderful! Heart full of fortitude! I believe that's what every hero in the world needs to have—!"

"Is it just me or am I seeing double?" Toru whispered to Mina, her gaze jumping back and forth between Shindo and Midoriya. "And is he sparkling?"

"I dunno, but he sure is pretty!" Mina drooled dreamily.

"—And Bakugou, Hagakure—" Shindo turned his attention to the pair next. Toru shuffled over to the explosive blonde's side when she was suddenly included in the conversation. "—It must've been hard for you! What with that whole kidnapping incident!"

"Ah, right, forgot it was televised…" Toru muttered glancing off to the side as Bakugou scowled at the bubbly boy.

"Huh?" Bakugou grunted.

"You have been _especially _strong-willed, haven't you? Today I'm gonna do my best to learn from you! I really hope you don't mind"

"Stop pretending!" Bakugou scowled as he slapped away the hand offered to him. "What you say doesn't match the look in your eyes"

"Hey man, don't be so rude!" Kirishima scolded the blonde before turning apologetically to the older boy, "Sorry, he's just like that"

"It's fine" Shindo waved off, "It just proves how tough his heart is"

Off to the side Toru watched as Todoroki was approached by another pair of students, one of which giddily asked for his autograph after having seen him perform at the Sports Festival. Something which seemed to stump that heterochromatic boy if the wide-eyed and gaping fish mouth was anything to go by. Of course, Mineta wasted no time in hitting on said girl as he magically appeared behind her with a lecherous grin and glistening eyes staring not-so-discreetly up her skirt. Typical. "Hey!" Aizawa called before heading inside, "Get your costumes and head to orientation. There's no time to waste!"

"Yessir!" Chorused 1-A as they began to shuffle over to the arena with Iida at the head.

"It's _weird" _Jiro commented, "I always forget we're famous to other schools"

"Oh yeah, we're basically celebrities when it comes to hero course students!" Replied Kaminari. "No pictures, please!"

Toru remained standing where she was however as her classmates trickled off, staring at Shindo with a look of thoughtfulness on her face as she tried to figure out what was bothering her about him.

"Hagakure? Is everything alright?" Shindo asked, tilting his head like a puppy in question towards the invisible girl still stood here.

"Uh, sorry, you just remind me of someone but I can't put my finger on it" She excused a little bashfully.

"Oh? And who might that be? No one bad I hope?" His eyes glinted dangerously, but the bright smile remained in place and it triggered the name stuck on her tongue.

"Nagisa!" Toru exclaimed brightly with a snap of her fingers.

"Nagisa?" He appeared a little taken back at the sudden exclamation as if he wasn't expecting an answer.

"Mm, an old friend of mine. He's a snake in the grass too" She couldn't help the grin spreading across her lips.

"What are you trying to say?" His head tilted the other way.

"What indeed?" She smirked, tilting her head coyly (although unseen) and let her mind wander through the different possibilities in which Shindo really was similar to Nagisa outside of their personalities.

"Toru!" Mina called from the top of the steps, waving her hand to try and get the invisible girl's attention. "C'me on! We need to go!"

"Coming!" She replied, sparing a glance towards the Ketsubutsu kids, "Good luck with the exam!" Before she scurried up the steps after her peers and into the intimidating area towering before them.

* * *

Now dressed in their hero gear, all 1540 students were cram-packed into the small arena like sardines in a can as they waited for orientation to begin. Not usually one for large crowds of people, Toru felt a little overwhelmed as she was jostled about by the students around her. You barely had enough room to swing a cat…though why you would want to swing a cat was beyond her. A snake maybe?

"Look at this crowd!" Breathed Midoriya from her right.

"There are so many!" Agreed Ochako who looked about with wide eyes.

"Eurgh!" The exhausted sigh from the front of the room echoed out across the hall and cut through any anxious chatters as one of the examiners took center stage. The blonde man was practically slumped over the pedestal and he bore purple bags under his eyes that could rival Hitoshi's. "Okay then, let's do this exam thing. I'm from uh, the Heroes Public Safety Commission. Names Mera. My circadian rhythm is so screwed up! Aw man! I've been swamped lately and I haven't gotten much rest. We're too—too short-staffed…I'm _so _tired! With that confession, I'll now begin orientation" His words slurred together as he yawned, and weakly fought against the exhaustion pulling at his eyes.

_Maybe someone should give this guy a Red Bull. _Toru thought, eyeing up the exhausted examiner. _Or a sedative._

"So about the contents of this license thing" Mera tiredly continued on. "Basically 1540 examinees compete in a free-for-all exercise or whatever we're calling it this year—"

"Seriously?" Sero muttered, "That's not a lot of info"

"—See, we've got a _lot _of Pros around and since Stain was arrested—" Toru winced at the reminder of the villain's quote-unquote 'arrest'. "—Many people have expressed their doubts about the status of heroes in society. But when you _really _think about it, getting paid makes sense. If you're going to risk your life to save someone, why shouldn't you ask for a reward? Huh? That's just the way the world works—God! I could use a coffee!—Anyway, whether they're in it for compensation or some sort of sense of duty, we've got too many heroes working together in the streets these days to keep villains at bay—"

With each and every word that came out of the examiners mouth, Toru could feel herself grow more and more anxious. She that the Provisional Licensing exam was going to be difficult, but it was starting to sound like they were using it more as a way to cull the younger heroes-to-be. _And if it really were the case that there were too many heroes, then why were there places like the Yakuza-run compounds still in existence? How long could they sweep that under the rug? Or was it maybe that some of the older heroes needed to kicked into retirement lest they end up like All Might? Was that it?_

"—Honestly, the time between when an incident begins and the time when it is resolved is ridiculously short" Mera continued. "You are all here trying to achieve your Provisional Licenses so you'll be swept up in this tiresome mess yourselves pretty soon! Those of you who don't have the speed frankly just won't cut it. Which is why that's what you'll be tested on" Suddenly the large blank screen behind him flared to life displaying the words:

_NUMBER OF EXAMINEES TO PASS TEST #1:_

_100 PEOPLE_

"The first 100 students to fulfil the requirements will pass today"

"What? But there are over 1500 people taking this test!" Yaoyorozu breathed in disbelief, sharing the sentiment with many other students. "I thought they said that about half of us would be passing!"

"This means it's actually less than 1% will get a license!" Asui calculated.

"Oh man! I'm getting way more nervous!" Jiro cried anxiously.

"Well the world can be pretty crappy" Mera smirked as he pushed himself up onto his elbows, likely having overheard several comments and shouts of disbelief littered amongst the large crowd. "I s'pose I should say something about luck"

_Well…? _Toru waited patiently for the following 'good lucks' to follow but nothing came.

"So, anyway here are the basic rules" Mera pulled out a rubber orange ball and a small metallic disk from somewhere in front of him. As he did so, the screen behind him flashed through several diagrams that helped to better explain how this exam worked "The examinee will put three of these targets on his or her body. They can go anywhere you want as long as it's an exposed area, so no soles of the feet or armpits. Each of you will also have six of these balls. The targets are programmed to light up whenever they've been touched by the balls; if all three targets light up then you're out. Oh! And the person who lights up your third target will get credit for your defeat. You get through this round by taking out two people, got it? Good"

_So it's similar to the Entrance exam! _Toru mused as she bit her lip in thought, trying her best to calm any residual nerves that had flared to life during the orientation. _But going against people with smaller targets will be a lot harder than going against robots! And we're given exactly enough balls to pass; but I guess we could always try to steal a third target after someone's hit the first two—so it's actually harsher than the Entrance exam!_

"What else?" Mera drawled as the line of suited men on either side of him dispersed into the cross with large boxes in hand. "Um, I guess we'll start passing out the targets and balls? Then you'll have a few minutes to get situated after we open"

"Open?" Toru puzzled at the choice of words whilst she systematically stuck the targets to her invisible body and slung the pack of balls around her waist like a belt. The tall guy behind her who had been practically breathing down her neck the entire orientation suddenly stepped apologising profusely when he realised someone was actually there. Thankfully, Toru didn't have to wait long for her answer as the four walls around them creaked and groaned before unfolding like a paper box to reveal a much larger arena (similar to the training grounds at UA).

"I'm sure each of you have different terrains that you like or that you want to avoid" Mera continued on as they gazed around at the landscape before them. "Use your Quirks well and do your best or not, whatever"

_Scratch that, it looks more like the USJ! _Toru thought as her gaze roved over the cityscape, the caves, mountains, power plant and motorway. Surrounding the arena lay a multitude of seats where only a sparse few were lined with examiners, teachers and scouts.

"—Yes, I know, it makes for a great reveal doesn't it? And for _what? _So much sleep loss for this! Hopefully some of these kids are fast and we can get this over with! Until then I'm gonna rest my eyes…zzzz!"

On that note all the students began to disperse, most keeping to their classes/schools whilst a few went off on their own. Gathering at the base of the mountain terrain, 1-A stayed together (for the most part) and prepped themselves for the start of the exam. _This is gonna be a slaughter, innit? _Toru thought as her eyes roved about searching for any sign of the other schools. _How bad would it be if I nicked my own classmates?…Remember you live with these nutters, so maybe not._

"Everyone!" Midoriya suddenly called from the front of the pack, his usually timid voice commanding and authoritative. "Stay close together! We'll fight them as a group!"

"Mm!" Ochako nodded.

"Got it!" Iida chirped.

"Tch! Y'right! This isn't a field trip!" Bakugou scowled.

"Idiot!" Kirishima scolded before following after the blonde with the look of a put-upon mother upon his face. "Wait up!"

"Kaachan!" Midoriya sighed exasperated at his friends predictability.

"Kirishima!" Iida called after the redhead.

"I'm going on my own too" Todoroki called over his shoulder as he went. "It's hard for me to use my Quirk safely when there's a big group around"

"Todoroki!" Midoriya called.

"Midoriya! There's no time!" Mineta snapped. Toru hated that fact that she agreed with the little pervert. "Let's go!"

"Uh, right! I still don't think it's a good idea for them to go off on their own though"

"How come?"

"Think about it! Everyone already knows what powers we have"

"They did research?" Ochako questioned.

"I see! The Sports Festival!" Iida replied as the answer clicked.

"Of course!" Toru piped up. "Usually we'd been on pretty equal footing, but because UA's Sports Festival is broadcasted across the nation, both our strengths _and _weaknesses were on display for everyone to see"

"The other schools have probably figured out the same way to win that I we have" Midoriya agreed. "This is going to end up being a battle between schools! With that in mind, it's likely they gang up on Quirks they know!"

"Does that mean…?" Mina trailed off.

"Don't tell me—!" Jiro was cut off by the sound of an airhorn echoing across the arena, signalling the start of the exam and the inevitable ambush.

"I knew it!" Midoriya gasped as 1-A turned as one to see the ambush laid out before them. With balls in hand, the opposing students beat down on them with such an intenseness that Toru felt like she was playing _Hunter & Hunted _with 3-E again. Those that hadn't leapt in to the air were stationed along the mountaintops like candles on a cake, each armed with their own balls.

"I saw you on TV!" Shindo addressed the greenette. The previously bubbly attitude that he had borne was long gone, now replaced with something a little more smug. "That power of yours also destroys your body—WELL, I CAN'T SAY I'M UPSET FOR TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THAT!"

The first of the balls came in waves, one after the other like bullets from a rifle. Reacting quickly, Toru flung up a violet convex forcefield which shielded herself and Asui from where they faced the front of the barrage. At the same time, Yaoyorozu produced two large body shields in which to hide behind with Jiro. Together the pair of girls silently protected their little quartet—Toru as the vanguard and Yaoyorozu as the rearguard. In the same instance that the varying shields had popped up, Midoriya had charged forward like a bull on a mission before leaping into the air and slinging a kick towards the first wave of balls. Preoccupied with the barrier, Toru could only watch as his foot connected with one of the rubber balls and the resulting aftershock from his attack sent the rest flying back at their owners.

All around them, their classmates fought back and protected each other much as they had done throughout the various trials and tribulations of the past couple of months. Dark Shadow leapt from Tokoyami's back where he had cloaked the teen and swiped the balls from the air with his large claws, Ochako drew fire by flying out of reach and Sero snagged those falling balls with long lengths of tape, Mina showered the rest in her acid and turning them into little puddles of melted goo, whilst Iida easily ran between the projectiles and Mineta swung his whip of constructed of sticky balls around like a bubbly string of spider's silk. "WE'VE GOT THIS YOU GUYS!" Midoriya cheered as he landed, his gaze roving over his peers' efforts. "LET'S SHOW 'EM WHAT UA CAN DO!"

"YEAH!" The rest of the class chorused as both sides paused to regroup. Narrowed eyes turned towards the Shiketsu students before them, specifically the blue one who appeared garbed in a puffer coat. _Just what is he doing? _Toru thought as she watched him fiddle with the balls in his hands. It wasn't until his hands came apart that she was able to see what he had done; somehow his Quirk allowed him to harden the balls until they were like little rocks in his hands. Handing them off to one of his snazzily-dressed classmates, the harden balls were then ignited in indigo and sent into the ground like hidden missiles.

"Shit! Where'd they go?!" Toru cursed as everyone swept their gazes about looking for where the offending projectiles would pop up.

"Where are they gonna pop out?" Midoriya added.

"Get back!" Jiro instructed in reply as she strode to the front of the formation and speaker-clad hands into the ground, palms up. "I'll handle this!"

No sooner had she said that did the ground in front of her begin to ripple and break; the sound waves flowing through the earth strong enough to tear it to pieces. The once hidden balls were flung into the air but still returned to their course towards the 1-A students. Mineta, who had the bad luck to be on the outermost edge of the group was the first target it seemed. Or he would have been had Mina not stepped in just in time. "Maximum strength & viscosity!" She decreed as a wave of acid flowed from her arm and stopped the balls in their tracks. "Protect this perv! Acid veil!"

"Wow! Thanks! That's such a great move!" Mineta complimented as acid rained down around him.

"It's my defensive special that creates a melty wall"

"Black Abyss!" Tokoyami decreed as Dark Shadow cloaked the teen once more, this time with a ball in hand. "Now, Dark Shadow! Piercing Twilight Claws!"

_"Eurgh!" _Mera's tired voice echoed out over the arena, sounding no more awake than he had been during orientation.

"God?" Mineta murmured as he spun around, trying to locate the source of the voice. Toru sniggered into her hand as their proctor spoke over the loud speaker.

_"Looks like all the students are still in a stalemate! Not a single one's passed yet" _Mera continued.

_"Oh! And don't worry students, I'll keep you updated with an announcement every time new students move onto the next round"_

_What's our plan? _Toru thought as the sniggers abided, turning to more important matters. _Everyone'll be protecting their targets, so it's going almost impossible to hit them by chance. We'd have to aim true to break through their defences, even we don't know what their Quirks are. Everyone's holding back at the moment, just waiting and watching, but at any moment the real fight is about to begin. I hope we're ready._

"Alright!" Shindo clicked his knuckles as determination gleamed in his eyes. Toru narrowed her eyes on the boy as he slammed his hands down on the earth. "OUTTA THE WAY! Their defences are too strong right now, I'll fix that! MAXIMUM FORCE: TREMORING EARTH!"

"Uh oh" Toru muttered as the ground beneath their feet began to ripple and tear apart much in the same way it had done with Jiro's attack, only this time on a much larger scale. Chunks of earthen rubble flew into the air tossing 1-A about like marbles in a tin can. "BRACE YOURSELVES!"

"EVERYBODY RUN!"


	56. Rule #43

** _Rule #43: Divide & Conquer_ **

Pushing herself off of a piece of nearby rubble, Toru encased herself and Iida in a violet bubble, protecting them as they were tossed about. Unfortunately, Iida was the only one Toru had been able to reach and as such she could only watch as their classmates were tossed about. Off to the side she saw Jiro, Yaoyorozu, Asui and Shoji slam together; then there was Koda, Tokoyami and Mina who were knocked back together. Ojiro received a mouthful of tape as Sero took a faceful of wailing Mineta and that left only Ochako and Midoriya to fend for themselves.

_"C'me on!" _Mera yawned, _"There should be at least one or two who have passed by now! Stop biding your time and get this over with!"_

"Are you alright, Iida?" Toru asked as they finally came to a stop in the middle of a valley behind where some of the other students had parked themselves.

"Hagakure?" Iida glanced up to see the invisible girl hovering over his shoulder. Because of the way she had encased the two in the violet forcefield, it looked a lot like she was about to bellyflop onto the boy. However the slight glow lighting up her veins and her fingertips seemed to be what was keeping her suspended above him. "Where are we?"

"Uh—" Before she could get anything out, the students who lined the valley ridge finally spotted them and suddenly the ambush at the mountain didn't seem so bad.

"HEY! THERE THEY ARE!"

"IT'S UA!"

"GET 'EM!"

"Iida—_run!" _Toru pleaded, her voice rising a couple of octaves as she watched their only exit become blocked by the armed students line the ridge, ready and waiting.

"Wha—?" Iida puzzled, still not quite sure what she had noticed.

_"RUN!"_

"Right!" He nodded once before turning back to the front and knelt to run, the engines in his calves revving before he launched forward, taking the bubble and subsequently her along with him. Like two hamsters in a ball, the two ran through the valley under the fire of rubber balls. Toru let out the breath she didn't know she was holding when all the balls that met the bubble melted into a puddle of goo or sliced straight through like a hot knife through butter.

_"Huh? It's about time someone perked up and passed!"_

"Someone's passed already?" Toru mused as their opponent's grew even more frustrated.

"So it would seem—" Iida replied.

_"WAAH!" _Toru & Iida cried out in chorus with Mera as their little bubble was suddenly forced sideways. Growing dizzy, Toru felt like she was being tossed about in a washing machine as the bubble was swatted aside like cat with a ball of yarn. With her stomach in her throat, Toru dismissed the violet bubble encasing the two and they free fell towards the ground, now far from where they had started.

At some point, the two were separated from each other, Toru headed towards the urban area whilst Iida was headed back towards the mountains—not that the two could do anything about that in the moment. In actuality, it was only through muscle memory that she was able to roll to her feet in order to avoid hurting herself when her feet returned to the ground, this time not far from the base of a construction site.

"Hurk! Ugh!" Toru gagged at the upheaval of her stomach before slapping a hand over her mouth, stubbornly refusing to vomit despite the sickly sweet taste in her mouth. Up above, Mera's voice suddenly sounded far more awake.

_"WHAT?! THERE WERE 120 PEOPLE TAKEN DOWN?! A SINGLE PERSON MANAGED TO DO THAT IN JUST ONE ATTACK!"_

"What? 120 people?! That's _insane!" _Toru gasped as her head jerked up to find herself face to face with a diamond-encrusted student from Seiai Academy (as seen by the crisp white school uniform she wore), ready and waiting. From what she could tell, the news seemed like a shock to the older girl just as much.

_"That actually surprised me so much that I'm awake! I assume we'll see a lot of people pass from now on! Everyone! Let's get this out of the way so I can take a nap! Good? Good!"_

Whilst Toru had been paying more attention to the announcement than the girl in front of her, it seemed that the diamond-encrusted girl had taken the opportunity to hit one of Toru's targets, lighting it up red. A stupid move on Toru's part, really. The bleeping sound of the target going off next to her ear was enough to pull her attention back to the task at hand and in her infinite wisdom spin on her heel and race for the skeletal steel of the building behind her. Climbing up the beams in much the same manner she had done when rescuing Hound-Dog Sensei's baby, Toru easily hauled herself up the red frame with her opponent on her tail.

It didn't take long for the UA student to reach the higher levels of the structure, kicking aside one of the Seiai's allies from Shiketsu (as seen by the beret firmly tucked onto their golden locks) who lost their footing and toppled over the side, allowing Toru to climb even further still. Adrenaline pumped in her veins as from somewhere below a large ball of fire raced up the center of the supports, but thankfully barley lapped at the soles of her shoes. The next attack came from an adjacent building, but this time it was an onslaught of balls. Swiping a violet arm towards the barrage whilst the other clung to the uppermost rung of the ladder, the balls were returned to their owner's much to their dismay. It was only through sheer dumb luck that enough of the balls hit their intended targets; although Toru was only able to obtain one out, out of the entire attack.

The next problem quickly arose however—Toru was quickly running out of steel to scale. She really had only two options to available to her: descend back through the steel structure and risk being hit or leap for the hovering load of beams hanging from a nearby crane. _Maybe Midoriya's recklessness is rubbing off. _Toru mused as she leapt for the beams. She hissed a curse as her knees aged against the outside of the beams when her feet slipped, however her hands gripped tight to the top of the cage and she hauled herself up onto the top before moving to climb the wire cable connected to the crane. _It's kinda like the rope climb!_ Toru grunted as her feet locked and unlocked together around the wire as she pulled herself upwards, intent on making it to the crane arm itself before she was caught.

Thankful for her small stature, Toru was able to easily slip through the inside of the crane's arm, ducking only slightly to avoid hitting her head as she moved swiftly. The reel of wire at her feet whistled as her chaser quickly retracted the hook after ejecting the beams from the crane and letting them fall all the way to the ground with a metallic clang. Sparing a quick glance over her shoulder let Toru see that whilst she had decided to travel through the crane arm, the Seiai girl had gone for creeping along the exterior with careful steps and clenched grips.

_This isn't working! _When the diamond girl was almost on top of her Toru decided to switch things up and hauled herself up even further onto the uppermost surface of the crane arm. Here it was flatter, yes, but it was also encased in a slippery metallic sheeting that set her nerves on edge. One wrong move and she'd be a bloody pancake on the ground far below.

"Looks like you're out of options!" Smirked the Seiai girl as she too hauled herself up onto the top of the crane opposite Toru. A quick glance around them showed another crane a little lower, the end of their crane, the top of a nearby building, the steel structure they'd left behind and the tiny little ants of the others examinees on the ground far below.

"Not quite!" Toru retorted as she palmed a ball and threw it at the girl without really trying to aim properly. Full of reckless abandon, Toru used the brief window of opportunity to run further down the crane and towards the other one.

"HEY!" Came the call as Toru swallowed her anxieties and leapt onto the one below them. With heart in her mouth, she felt like she was hanging in mid-air—that time had slowed down—between the two cranes. A feeling which was immediately dashed when her legs jolted against the slim outer railing. Without wasting time to see if she was being followed, Toru flew from that crane to the building below, encasing herself in violet as she rolled to a stop before she reached the edge of the roof. _"Well, we finally had a 30th person pass!" _Mera cheered, his tired voice driving her forward. _"Still a pretty long way to go though; can't you kids speed this along? For me?"_

Now back on mostly flat solid ground, Toru wasted no time in dismissing the forcefield she had used to break her fall before she began to sprint across the rooftop like a bat outta hell; hurdling the odd object or randomly placed air conditioner as she did so. Dust flew up her nose and she tried her best not to sneeze, not wanting to go over the side because of something so trivial. Eventually coming to a flight of exposed stairs, she easily leapt from platform to platform until she was able to find a door that opened. "Oh c'me _on!" _Toru groaned, jiggling the lock as the sound of harried footsteps sounded above her. Thankfully however, she was able to get it open just far enough to squeeze through and then she was off once more.

Weaving her way through the bland hallways of the bare building, Toru hurdled oddly placed tables and flung herself through open windows in an effort to lose the girl still on her tail, but to no avail. _Surely, she's gone be now? _Toru thought as her chest heaved with breaths whilst she glanced about. _Or not. _Skidding around the corner of the hallways was the Seiai girl just as red-faced as she with balls in hand. Ducking beneath one ball, Toru ran like she was trying to make it to home base, sliding straight for the open shaft of the elevator and easily fell down the darkened shaft.

Hopping from one level to another, the invisible girl descended another couple of levels as curses floated down after her. It didn't take long for her to emerge out onto another floor, and it took even less for her to fling herself out of the small window that overlooked the exterior elevator. Using the top of the rising elevator as a launching pad, the invisible girl flip tucked onto the adjacent stairway where she rolled to a stop not far from the hand railing. _"Let's see, where are we at now? Things have been moving a lot ore quickly. Looks like 52—make that 53—have passed and looking on the other side of things, it seems 230 examinees have failed. Less than half the spots are open! Now's the time to move! Don't dilly-dally kids!"_

* * *

A few minutes later found Toru still running from the Seiai girl, now far less regal-looking than she had been when the chase had first began. Somehow the pair had wound back up at the destroyed mountain terrain where a few students still remained in hiding. The adrenaline in her veins had calmed a little by this point, allowing her to noisy pant like a dog as she ran and take stock of herself. _Of the three targets, only one of mine is hit and I've already got one guy out. So halfway there! If I can get this chick, I'll be golden! But I can't let her get my last two!_

Leaping from the outcropping in front of her, Toru flew over the group of Ketsubutsu kids she quickly discovered hidden there much to both of their surprises. "Uh…hi!" She waved as she rolled to a stop not far away from the edges of their little huddle. Of course, this surprise didn't last long as Shindo's hand quickly slapped onto the earth. "Tremoring—!"

"—No, you don't!" Toru threw her own hands up towards the group—well-aware of what he could do by now—and encased them in a violet bubble all their own, trapping them inside like hamsters before knocking them aside as the diamond Seiai girl appeared over the ridge of the mountain terrain.

"What the—!"

"What is this?" Nakagame (one of Shindo's bubblier classmates) cried as she leapt back from the edge of the shiny bubble now surrounding them and collapsed back into one of her classmates. "It's so shiny!"

"Urgh! Nakagame! G'off!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" There was a fair amount of banging on the interior walls of the bubble in the efforts to find a way out, but the translucent walls held firm.

_"Let's see…the 62nd person just passed the exam. Haa, another 38 and it'll FINALLY be over"_

Again their proctor's voice echoed out across the arena, counting down the spots until the exam—and their chances of getting the Provisional Licenses were gone. Flipping away from the onslaught of well-aimed balls, Toru eventually landed atop the bubble and crouched low, gripping tight to the violet surface that rippled beneath her touch. The only damage really done was to her boots which had begun to smoke when they met the ultraviolet exterior of the bubble, but otherwise the only reaction she ever showed was to a muttered comment from someone below her and the resulting smack and scolding of said pervert.

Just as red flushed across her cheeks, violet light flowed through her veins causing her silhouette to appear to the naked eye under an eerie glow; as her opponent leapt from the ridge and came to a stop not far from them. "Y'know, I always knew that UA was insane, but leaping from cranes? You must have a death wish!" The girl commented palming another ball. This time she was close enough that Toru could see her earlier ball had actually met its mark as one of the three targets had been ignited red. Which meant that the yell she thought she had heard when she had leapt from the cranes was not one of concern, but one of ire.

"Ah, well, we all have our hobbies" Toru shrugged noncommittally tracing the girl's movements with calculating eyes.

"I'm sure" Diamond eyes narrowed on violet ones, both girls palming their own balls as they waited for the silent signal to begin their fight. Pure unadulterated violet pulsed around her limbs like tiny little suns and in turn, diamond limbs creaked and groaned as limbs were sharpened to sword-like proportions. For a beat no one moved, no one dared breathe and it was in that moment that Toru pounced. Rocketing from the top of the bubble with so much force that she sent the Ketsubutsu kids toppling backwards, the invisible girl launched a volley of condensed UV blobs at her opponent, intent on catching her off guard as she granted herself enough time to land and react.

No sooner had her feet met the ground mere centimetres from the Seiai girl, did she spin and launch a violet kick straight through one of the arms outstretched to her. The pulsating violet limb sliced through her mineral one like a hot knife through butter, letting the claw-like hand fall away harmlessly as Toru rolled further out of reach and the older girl stepped back to assess the damage done to her. "Holy fuck!" Shindo cursed, pressing himself up against the bubble as the hand with wrist now bubbling a light purple bounced to a stop not far from them.

"Y'know suddenly, I'm okay with being trapped in here…" Nakagame replied, her voice climbing several octaves as they paused in their escape attempts and turned to watch the fight.

The following tangle of limbs was only intercut with the occasional skirting of rubber balls and bleeding scratches as the two girls silently went at each other like rabid dogs. Toru fought mostly with her legs, her hands meanwhile far more occupied with the upkeep of the bubble off to the side. "You're…good" Panted the older girl as she dodged a fiery leg to the head.

"You're…not so…bad yourself" Toru returned the compliment as she swept the girl's legs out from under her with enough force to flip her over and belly flop onto the ground.

"ZHAO!" One of the Ketsubutsu kids suddenly called out through cupped hands. "FUCKING GET ON WITH IT!"

"You know her Makabe?" Shindo turned to him.

"I met her before the exam" The blue boy shrugged, turning back to the fight. Toru was just glad she could finally put a name to a face.

As the two paced around each other like lions in a stadium, Toru could almost picture Bitch-Sensei perched on one of the rocky outcroppings, scantily-clad in the cheerleading uniform she had worn during their sports day last year, cheering her on. It was an odd image; something that her both smile and shake her head at. But even in her mind's eye she could see the blonde Russian waving her pompoms like crazy and yelling _"KICK 'ER ASS!"_

As if on cue, Toru reengaged Zhao with a roundhouse kick in which she quickly bowed beneath as if it were a limbo stick, ducking out of the way before another limb was sliced off. In turn, Toru ducked beneath the jab aimed for her neck in time to lodged an in Zhao's chest and face, subsequently knocking the breath out of the diamond girl who retaliated with a right hook that nailed Toru right in the translucent cheek. Almost as if in reply, the invisible girl dove under the following punch and tackled Zhao around the waist, pushing back far enough that she could bend far enough to bring a blazing foot up over her head whilst a hand came up and tapped one of her targets.

The attack via blazing foot just barely brushed the diamond girl's ear as Zhao pushed Toru away far enough that she could grab some of the abandoned balls just littered about the place as well as a jagged steel pipe that had been jutting out from behind one of the rocks. Instead, she swung the pipe like a baseball bat, uncaring for technique or strategy as she just tried to hit the invisible girl who was giving her no leeway. Collapsing to the ground like a puppet who strings had been cut, Toru narrowly missed the pipe aimed for her head before she rolled onto her hands and began to spin as Zhao rained down on her again with the pipe in hand. At least until she had to quickly backpedal to get away from the flying fiery limbs headed for her. _Who knew that Gato's head spins would come in handy? _Toru thought of the holographic boy as her legs easily sliced through the pipe like it was made of butter.

Coming out of the impromptu dance, Toru and Zhao jumped apart once again to asses the situation once more. For Toru, she had hit two of Zhao's three targets, sliced off a limb (which appeared to be regenerating itself if what she was seeing was correct) all the while she kept their 'cheerleaders' locked away. In turn, Zhao had hit one of Toru's targets and had inflicted several long weeping wounds and yellowing bruises. Their time was running short and they all knew it. Again, Toru saw Bitch-Sensei in her mind's eye but this time she bore the costume of a strict teacher—metal ruler included. _"IS SHE DEAD YET?"_

"Not yet" Toru found herself murmuring in reply as they two continued to circle each other. This time Zhao stood in front of the bubble and Toru opposite her.

_"THEN STOP PLAYING WITH YOUR FOOD! KILL HER!"_

Toru's violet eyes gleamed dangerously at the word 'kill' that echoed through her mind. It triggered something deep inside her—something which had been ingrained over the past year, something that got her heart racing and her blood pumping. She charged towards the Seiai girl with reckless abandon, a smirk firmly planted on her lips and a rubber ball in either hand. Zhao ducked and rolled out of the way just in time as Toru kicked off of the bubble and rebounded over the diamond girl, flipping this way and that as she drove her UV-powered limbs into the earth in her need to disable the older girl.

At some point a jagged sheet of metal was introduced to the mix and Toru had to quickly backpedal lest she find herself decapitated. Once again using her feet as her weapons, Toru sliced clean through the sheet of metal before throwing a knee up into the older girl's chest hard enough to knock the wind out of her. Zhao in turn, replied with a foot to the chest, kicking the younger girl away and returning the favour. Both girls barely remained on the ground as they wheezed for breath, far too pumped full of adrenaline to slow down. Rising to her feet, Toru met Zhao head on one final time. Time seemed to slow as the two leapt in the air, each armed with rubber balls. Her movements were both far too slow and way too fast to see, but at the same time the bleeping of targets seemed to ring loudly in her ears.

And then time resumed. Toru fell to the ground, skidding to a stop in front of the bubble and jerked her head upwards to see if Zhao was going to attack again. As the two girls slowly rose to their feet again, they were able to see that the sounds they had heard had in fact come from both of them—where Toru now had two of her three targets ignited red, all three of Zhao's targets were ignited red telling them exactly what had happened. An ecstatic grin leapt across Toru's lips just disappointment fell across Zhao's. She had _passed! _"YAS!" Toru cheered before collapsing back onto the dirt as she panted heavily, tired from both the chase and subsequent intense fight against the older girl. _"Students who have passed or failed the exam should congregate in their corresponding ante rooms. Chop! Chop!" _Intoned a feminine voice from the three targets glued to the invisible girl as they blinked over to a cerulean blue, letting the other participants know that she had passed.

A small thump in the dirt next to her caused her to roll her head over towards the equally tired girl now sat next to her. "Good…fight" Toru panted, her chest heaving up and down as she tried to regain her breath.

"Uh…you too" Zhao replied, granting her a small sad smile.

"Sorry…about your…hand"

"That's okay, it'll grow back, see?" Zhao waved the small nub in her direction as the two girls talked, somehow forgetting that they had an audience.

"You regenerate?" Toru propped herself up onto her elbows in interest.

"Er, yeah…"

"That's so _cool!"_

"Uh, thanks…" Zhao blushed as she tipped her head back to bask in the sun and hide her embarrassment. "We're gonna sleep well tonight, huh?"

"Tonight? I'm gonna sleep on the bus!" Toru retorted happily, her breaths no longer as laboured as they once were; but her arms remained stretched out towards the bubble in which the Ketsubutsu kids were still encased.

"…Are you ever gonna let us out?" Nakagame whined from behind them, jolting the two girls out of their quiet conversation and making them spin around to face the audience they had totally forgotten was there.

"Uh…eventually" Toru replied bashfully as she flushed crimson before she turned back to Zhao. "Uh, do you need a hand—I—I mean—um—"

"It's alright!" Zhao laughed as the younger girl stumbled over her words. "I'd love a hand, thanks!"

"A-a—all right" Toru nodded, slowly getting to her feet before holding a hand out to the older girl, intending to give her a piggyback. Zhao, who seemed to notice her kohai's rather rapid recovery as the invisible girl pulled her up and onto her back in a piggyback, pointed out.

"How're you recovering so quickly?"

"Sun's out" Toru pointed upwards.

"You're…photosynthesising?"

"Ye~ah…pretty much"

"Cool" The two shared a grin as they recovered, sharing stilted conversations as Toru shuffled over to the bubble now residing next to a eater fissure which had sprung up at some point—likely during Shindo's original attack, if Toru had to guess.

"What…are you doing?" Shindo warily dragged the question out as Toru grinned in reply—something that was rather eery now that most of the UV in her veins had receded, leaving just a few spots highlight by the violet—such as her mouth and eyes. As if in reply, Toru simply began to push the bubble out onto the rapidly moving water fissure.

"Wait—! Don't—!" Nakagame—who seemed to have cottoned on to what was about to happen— pleaded. Toru merely swiped her hands in a 'cancel' motion, making the violet bubble pop and dunked its contents into the water below.

"Have a nice swim!" Toru couldn't help but laugh as she turned made her way over to the ante rooms at the far end of the arena, Zhao laughing the entire way.

* * *

"…1-A! Class 1-A! Class 1-A! Class 1-A!" Chanted Sero, Ochako, Kaminari and Kirishima in unison as Midoriya stood off to the side like a mother watching their children goof off.

"Are those your classmates?" Zhao asked, perplexed as they finally reached the ante rooms.

"Yeah…" Toru admitted, "What the hell are they doing?"

"It looks like some kind of ritualistic dance!"

"It could be, who knows?"

"UA is insane"

"Well, it's hard to argue with that…" Toru agreed, "Are you gonna be okay from here?"

"I was fine two two kilometres back, just too lazy" Zhao replied as she got down.

"Hey!"

"What? It's not like you caught on!"

"Ah…! Eh…"

"Well, good luck for the next round, Hagakure!" Zhao flashed the invisible girl a thumbs up. "I'll be watching!"

"Uh, thanks Zhao" Toru replied, bashfully scratching at her cheek as she waved goodbye to the older girl and disappeared into the ante room for those who had passed.

It didn't take long for Toru to meet up with the rest of the classmates who had passed, grabbing some refreshments on the way. "Oh hey!" Greeted Yaoyorozu with a plateful of steamed buns in her hands, "What a relief! I was starting to get so worried!"

"No need to worry about us, Yaomomo!" Kaminari replied, coming over to greet the girl. "What's up? When did you guys pass? You been here long?"

"We just finished as well" Shoji replied from beside Yaoyorozu. "Todoroki beat us"

"I was kinda shocked that Bakugou wasn't here already" Jiro added as she and the blonde joined in. "But I get it now, it was because _you _were with him"

"Hey! C'me on! Why is everyone dragging me today?" Kaminari complained.

"The queue to take off your targets is in the back" Asui supplied next, "They asked us to return them to the shelf now that we're done"

"Oh thanks Tsu!" Toru smiled, "We should go do that"

"It looks like only twelve from our class have passed" Todoroki noted, after he had finished counting heads as both Ochako and Toru passed by on their way to dispose of their targets.

"So eight more to go" Midoriya noted.

"The announcement said only seventeen spots left!" Yaoyorozu added worriedly.

_"Wow! Eight people just passed at the same time! That leaves only nine open spots!" _Mera's voice intoned as the two girls lined up.

"Nine spots?" Ochako worried, "There's only enough for our class!"

"Or less" Toru added, biting her lip as they shuffled into the back.

"Oh I hope everyone'll make it!"

"Me too" _Well, maybe not Mineta—that little Perv!_

_"That's two more in!" _Mera intoned, his voice brightening as he realised they were almost halfway through their exam. _"Seven spots left! Six spaces remain! Five left! Make that four! Pressure's on now! In the final minutes UA came together and pulled off some absolutely INSANE combos! Three spots! Ooh! That one's from Shiketsu High, so only two spots remain! THE LAST STUDENTS PASS! THE FINAL SPOTS ARE NOW FILLED! 100 STUDENTS WILL NOW ADVANCE! THE END IS FINALLY HERE! WAHOO!"_

"They did it!" The two girls cheered, jumping up and down after the targets had been removed, placed back into the boxes and moved back over to where their classmates were similarly celebrating.

"OUR ENTIRE CLASS PASSED THE TEST! I'M SO EXCITED!" Ochako grinned.

"MAN! I AM SO PROUD OF US!" Agreed Sero.

"Ribbit! Ribbit!" Asui happily croaked.

"We really pulled it off, you guys!" Midoriya happily sighed.

"Yeah!" Nodded Shoji.

_"Unfortunately, those of you who failed will now have to withdraw from the licensing exam. Please make your way to the stadium immediately!"_


	57. Rule #44

** _Rule #44: Hide/Protect the women and children_ **

_"Alright" _Mera sighed, garnering the attention of the passing students now crammed inside the ante room. _"For the hundred of you who passed the first test, please turn your attention to the screen"_

"Huh?" Toru glanced up at the large screen alongside everyone else as it flicked to a different channel; this one showing several close-ups of different sections of the test arena.

"It's the test arena" Midoriya noted.

"What do you think's gonna happen next?" Ochako mused. They didn't have to wait for long.

** _KA-BOOM! CRUNCH! SMASH!_ **

Buildings, tall structures, mountainsides and a whole other menagerie of areas were blown to smithereens (more-so than they already had been drawing the first test). "Wait—! Does that mean…?" Midoriya murmured as something seemed to click.

_"There's only one more round to the exam" _Mera continued to explain, _"Your goal is simple: undertake rescue exercises and save the bystanders who are trapped in these disaster zones"_

"A rescue mission!"

"And with our luck, villains too" Toru muttered pessimistically as she watched the dust clouds begin to settle up on the screen.

"Save the what now?" Kaminari and Mineta chorused in puzzlement.

"Bystanders" Toru turned to them, explaining slowly as if talking to morons. "We learned about them in class, remember? They're people at a disaster scene"

"It can also simply refer to innocent people on the street" Added Yaoyorozu.

_"Use this time to show us how you would carry out successful rescue procedures once you receive your Provisional Licenses" _Mera went on to explain. _"Treat this as though it was the real deal"_

"Look! On the screen!" Shoji pointed out.

"Huh? Little kids and old people?!" Sato exclaimed as splotches of colour dotted about the screen turned out to be just that.

"That's so dangerous!" Mineta agreed, "Why're they here?!"

_"These specialists have been trained as professional persons-in-need of rescue" _Came the answer as one of the old men turned to the camera and waved a bottle of flake blood in the air. _"They're very popular. Introducing the __Help Us Company,__ also known as __H.U.C__ for short"_

"So they're basically actors I guess?" Sero mused.

"That's the kinda job you never think about!" Asui pondered.

"But a necessary one in our world, given our hero training" Ojiro replied.

_"The H.U.C bystanders have dressed up like injured victims and will be located throughout the disaster sites. We'll be judging how well you keep them safe as you go about your mission. Oh! By the way, we'll be scoring you on a point system; if you have more points at the time of the benchmark by the time the exercise comes to an end, then you pass the exam. The next exam will starts in ten minutes; take care of any necessary preparations now"_

"This looks familar" Iida stood next to his friend as they stared up at the scene laid before them with a haunted looked upon his face. At the same time, Toru silently clenched her fists and shifted in place as she was reminded of the trials their training camp and subsequent kidnapping had wrought on them.

"Mm, it's like Kamino Ward" Midoriya nodded, "I wonder if they based it off of that?"

"It's true that the situations are similar, but our only goal then was to rescue Bakugou and Hagakure from the villains. We let the Pros handle search and recovery, and you'll recall there were _many _casualties" Toru resolutely ignored the glances sent her way by her classmates as they each recalled the events of that night. Her grip tightened as she shifted again, this time crossing her arms tightly across her chest in an effort to hide her emotions.

"Not this time!" Midoriya vowed determinedly.

* * *

On her way back from the bathroom, Toru had unintentionally eavesdropped on what Sero had been telling his friends—from the look on his face and the quiet tone that he used, it was a rather pervy one too! "Hey, guys! You gotta listen to this story!" Sero gushed, creeping over to where Kaminari and Mineta sat idly waiting for the next round of the exam to begin. "It's pretty juicy!"

"What's the rating?" Mineta queried.

"Triple X!"

"Go on…"

"Y'know the fox in the catsuit? The one over there from Shiketsu?"

"Yeah?" Kaminari answered, glancing towards said girl.

"If you're going to say she's hot, I already know that" Mineta drawled. "I've been watching her this whole time, and—"

"—Well,_ I _saw her completely butt naked in the shadows by the rocks with Midoriya!" Sero interjected slyly.

"MIDORIYA!" Kaminari and Mineta suddenly both screeched like a pair of cats being run over by a lawn mower.

"Huh?" Midoriya turned at the sound of his name.

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING, YOU BASTARD?!" Mineta demanded as the two of them assaulted their classmate. Toru was stuck between wanting to laugh at them and wanting to smack the over the head. "WHEN THE REST OF US WERE WORKING SO HARD!"

"WAS THIS TEST NOTHING BUT A JOKE TO YOU?!" Kaminari added.

"GUYS! COOL IT! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Midoriya cried as he weakly defended himself against the pair.

"DON'T PLAY DUMB!" Mineta wept as he turned to point at the girl in question. "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THAT SMOKING HOT GIRL OVER THERE—?"

Whatever answer Mineta had ever hoped to receive was cut off when all three boys suddenly paled when they were caught out by the girl of choice coyly waving back at them. Of course it wasn't hard for the grape-haired boy to spin things out of proportion. "THE CASUAL GREETING EXCHANGED BETWEEN A MAN AND WOMAN WHOSE SECRET RELATIONSHIP HAS ADVANCED SEVERAL PACES!"

"HOW PLUS ULTRA DID YOU END UP GOING WITH HER?!" Kaminari cried.

"Wha—ugh! Now I get it! Sero blabbed!" Midoriya's eyes widened in realisation before he stepped back. "I'm telling you! It wasn't like that! It was because of her Quirk! _Actually,_ I had no idea what was happening and almost failed the exam"

"BUT YOU DID SEE HER NAKED?!" Kaminari demanded.

"Well, sorta…"

"DON'T YOU LIE TO US!" Mineta warned.

"WHY IS SHE STILL WAVING AT YOU?!" Kaminari growled, grabbing a hold of the boy by his lapels and furiously shaking him like a rag doll to the point that he was almost the same colour as his suit and hair.

"WE NEED DETAILS, MIDORIYA! DETAILS!"

"Are they always like that?" Nakagame magically appeared at Toru's shoulder, watching the exchange like it was a tennis match with a hint of disgust.

"Yeah" Toru sighed dejectedly, "This is pretty much on par with them. I _am _surprised that Tsu hasn't hit them yet, though—she usually keeps those two in line"

"Maybe she's in the bathroom?"

"Yeah, maybe"

"Look, I just wanted to say I _loved _watching your fight before!" The blonde suddenly spun the invisible girl around as she clutched onto there gloved hands. "It was _so _passionate and _intense!"_

"Um, thank you? Sorry about the river"

"Oh it's fine, No hard feelings! Shindo needed a bath anyway"

"Wha—! I did _not!" _Said earth user then appeared as if summoned by his classmate, locks still damp from his impromptu swim.

"Oh yeah? When was the last time you bathed?" Nakagame turned to the brunette with hands on hips, full of sass and playful teasing.

"Yesterday!"

"In dirt or water?" Toru couldn't help but tease around the blonde, her grin evident in her tone.

_"Hey!"_

"Haha! Yes!" Nakagame held her hand up for a hi-five which Toru happily gave her much to the chagrin of the pouting boy. "Which reminds me!" Nakagame spun back around to face the invisible girl, moving slightly to allow her classmate into the conversation. "How come you didn't use any of those moves during the Sports Festival? That fight would've been epic!"

"Uh, that's 'cause I couldn't" Toru sheepishly scratched at her cheek as she replied. Both teens looked puzzled at that, sharing a glance that she couldn't decipher.

"What d'ya mean?"

"After the whole kidnapping-supernova-explosion thing, my Quirk kinda did a full reboot, y'know? So it's like trying to relearn the ropes all over again"

"And you've done all that in just the passed couple of months?" Shindo pondered, his brows knitting together in thought. "That's impressive!"

"Uh thanks…"

"Well, we should let you get back to your class" Nakagame smiled freely as a gaggle of Shiketsu students began to make their way over. "Good luck on the next round!" She waved over her shoulder as the pair left to rejoin their own classmates.

"Uh, you too!" Toru blinked dumbly as she waved in reply, a little dumfounded at what had just happened. It was like talking to a combination of Midoriya's happiness and Ochako's determination wrapped up in a cloak of Bakugou's slightly blood-thirsty nature. It was all a bit much for the invisible girl who mentally shook herself before preparing for the next exchange between another school. _Why were hero students always so intense?_

"Oh hey! It's Shiketsu!" Kirishima greeted around the bread in his mouth, cheeks puffing up like a chipmunk. _He looks like a shark and chipmunk had a baby! _Toru mused as she wandered over, giving silent support to her friends as they were approached by the other school.

"Bakugou!" Mora called out as he strode forth. The yeti-like man moved with such focus, that people seemed to automatically part for him—he almost didn't need the entourage at his back.

"What?" Bakugou grunted in greeting.

"I think you met Shishikura in the test—my classmate with the flesh-moulding power?"

"Yeah, I took 'im out"

"I thought so! I'm guessing her may have acted rudely or perhaps offended you. He has a tendency to push his own values onto others—"

_Ooh! Don't do that! _Toru winced. _That's what gets ya killed!_

"—Probably couldn't help it in your case, since you're pretty famous—"

_That's no excuse!_

"—I apologise for him. I'd like to build a good relationship between our schools"

"I—I guess he wants t-to be friends?" Mineta warbled.

"So he says" Midoriya replied. "But the way they were fighting, it didn't seem that way!"

"Well, _I_ think it's sweet!" Mina clapped.

"And brave" Toru nodded along, "Owning up to your mistakes? To the ones of your peers? Not just anyone does that"

"—Anyway, that's it" Mora finished before walking off with his peers in tow—he looked like a mother duck leading his ducklings away!

Something in his must've clicked with Todoroki for the heterochromatic boy called out for Inasa to wait behind for a moment.

"Hey! You in the back!" Todoroki called.

"Hn?" Inasa grunted as he turned to face him. The calm expression on his face melted into something of disdain and Toru had to wonder what had granted such a response from the taller boy. _Constipation, maybe?_

"Did I do something to you?"

"Oh? Well, I'm sorry, son of Endeavour, but I _hate _you guys! You've changed a bit since back then, but you're eyes are the same as Endeavour's"

"Yoarashi, what's wrong?" Mora called when he saw that the taller kohai was not with them.

"Nothing, senpai!" Inasa snarled as he stalked over leaving a dumbstruck Todoroki behind.

"Todoroki—?" Midoriya warily asked his friend, well-aware that his father was such a sore subject for him.

"—See ya!" Chirped the Shiketsu girl who Mineta and Kaminari had been ogling.

"R-Right!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'R-RIGHT'?!" Mineta and Kaminari pounced on the poor greenette once more. "YOU SEXUAL MANIC!"

"I TOLD YOU! IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK! She's actually super scary!"

"Please!" Yaoyorozu scolded the three like a disappointed mother, "You're acting disgracefully! This test isn't over! You need to focus!

"JUST LOOK AT HER!"

"Have you even begun to strategise?"

** _BRRRING!_ **

The screen up above flicked through the various new disaster zones following the bell and Mera's instructions bled out over the loud speakers as the next round of the exam was introduced. _"Villains have performed a large scale terrorist attack spanning all of [INSERT CITY NAME HERE]. Since most buildings have collapsed, there are many injured"_

"Guess that's the backstory, ribbit" Asui noted as the surrounding walls of the ante room began to creak and groan much as the first one had done.

"So then—?" Jiro gasped.

"We're starting"

"Here we go" Toru muttered, shifting on her feet slightly in anticipation. So far 1-A's track record for rescue exercises had not gone to plan, in fact Toru didn't know if she could think of a single exercise going smoothly for them.

_"Due to heavily damaged roads" _Mera continued. _"The first responders have unfortunately been delayed for the time being"_

"WHAT IS WITH THESE ROOMS?!" Kaminari exclaimed as the walls unfolded like origami.

_"Until emergency services arrive, the heroes in the area will lead the rescue effort. Your task is to save as many people as you can and help the injured. And with that…BEGIN!" _Rocketing from the starting point, all the participating students dissipated into their respective schools as they headed for certain areas of the arena. Of course, there was always one or two who had to go off on their own_—cough—Bakugou—cough._

"Let's start by heading to the closet urban area! We'll work together as much as possible!" Iida decreed from the front of the pack, something of which Toru was thankful for. She didn't have much experience in saving lives—not even with the various lessons they'd had (the dummies didn't count, they weren't alive to begin with), she was much better at taking them. So for once, she was more than happy for the speed racer to take the lead as he was wa'nt to do.

"Right!" Chorused the others, sans Bakugou who broke off from the group as soon as possible.

"Bakugou, again?" Mina sighed exasperatedly.

"Tch! Why're you guys following me, you damn extras?!" Bakugou snarled over his shoulder at Kirishima and Kaminari who had tagged along to keep the explosive blonde in check.

"We just felt like it!" Kirishima replied joyfully.

_"Right, so uh, try to get this over with as quickly as you can, for me yeah? Zzzz"_

"Even though this is just a test, this feels pretty real" Asui noted as she hopped along next Ojiro.

"Stay alert! Beware of falling debris and explosions!" Ojiro called forth, reciting their lessons from 13.

"What's wrong Midoriya?" Iida called back as his green friend suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned towards one of the fallen skyscrapers off to their right. If Toru listened closely, she could just hear the wailing sounds of someone calling for help.

"I hear someone!" Midoriya replied before carefully leading them over to where he had heard the noise. The closer the class crept, the louder the sounds became and Toru had to wonder how the greenette had heard them so clearly the first time. "There! He's over there!"

"My grandpa! He—he's been crushed!" Wept the injured child.

"What? This is bad! Where?!"

"What's up with that? MINUS POINTS!" The boy suddenly jerked his head upwards as he dropped the weeping child act like a hot coal.

"Huh?!"

"First you need to check whether or not I can walk! My breathing was weird too, right? And I'm bleeding pretty badly on my head! THOSE WITH PROVISIONAL LICENCES SHOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE IN THE VICTIM'S CONDITION IN AN INSTANT AND ACT BASED ON THAT!"

_Wait. _Toru tilted her head as she pondered his sudden change in tone. _Does that mean all the members of the H.U.C will be the ones scoring us for these exercises?_

"THIS WILL SHOW YOU HOW MUCH YOU'VE TRAINED!" The boy continued to roar. "LOOK ALL AROUND YOU AND PAY _ATTENTION!" _Taking his advice to heart, Toru swivelled her head and pricked her ears just enough for her to pick up on the (more) successful rescue attempts going on around them. It seemed that most of the second years were less fish-out-of-water than they were, easily using their Quirks to rope off dangerous areas and create space for helicopters and other emergency vehicles to get there. The kids from Ketsubutsu had already started ferrying victims back over to the unfolded ante room which was now being used as a first aid and trauma station.

"Oh…" The small sound escaped from her lips as she turned back to their victim who was effectively shoving the knowledge into their thicks skulls.

"You're not just here to provide aid!" The boy scolded them, "Until emergency services can arrive, you need to exercise authority in their place and do your best to make sure everything goes smoothly enough for you to had off to them. In order to save people, heroes must do many things. Above all, you—we're all scared, hurting and worried out of our minds. When the first thing you say is _'What? This is bad' _that's no good"

"…I—it's f-fine!" Midoriya stuttered, his smile only wobbling slightly.

"…OVER THERE!" The H.U.C actor wailed, returning to his job and easily accepting the boy's second attempt. "MY GRANDPA—!

"Don't worry, we'll save him too!" Midoriya reassured before glancing over his shoulder at his peers. "I'll carry this kid to the first-aid area, you guys go on ahead!"

"All right!" Iida nodded, as the class dispersed.

"Let's do this!" Mineta cheered.

"Yeah!"

* * *

Now a little further away, 1-A found themselves once again trying to pull someone—presumably Grandpa—from the wreckage of one of the buildings; only this time Sero, Sato, Yaoyorozu and Ochako were the ones who completed the task whilst the rest of them just sat around watching. "This isn't good!" Mineta exclaimed as they watched Sero tape up some support beams. "We're just standing around and watching!"

"Several people have already left" Shoji added, "And unlike in the first round, we may need to split up for this one. We could move in smaller groups"

"In that case, I'll be of much more help if I head to the river" Asui piped up.

"I'll join you" Todoroki replied.

"Me too!" Toru readily agreed.

"Guys? Work together?" Ojiro turned to Koda, Mina and Tokoyami.

"Sure" Tokoyami nodded.

"Cool beans!" Mina cheered before turning to the quiet boy.

"Yo Koda, can you use animals to look for people who need rescuing?"

"Aa" Koda nodded.

"I'll keep my eyes open" Shoji then turned to his pint-sized classmate, "Mineta, will you help me?"

"Sure thing!" The grape-haired boy agreed.

"Good" Iida ended, "Depending on the situation, we should also work together with other schools. That's how we'll save lives"

"Right!" Everyone chorused as Aoyama suddenly charged over to a group of older students who were peering aimlessly into one of the dark crevices.

"Did you say it was too dark in there?" Aoyama sang as he suddenly collapsed on the floor at there feet, near the entrance of the crevice and lit up his navel laser and easily illuminated the area. "Allow my twinkling to save the day!"

"Perfect! Thanks!" The student flashed the sparkling blonde a thumbs up.

"That's a shocker! I didn't think you'd be the first to help!" Mineta cried, and he was right—Aoyama wasn't usually one to put himself out there, despite his rather flashy Quirk. "Then again, you do love that pose!"

"Yaoyorozu!" Iida called to his fellow representative, "We'll disperse across the field and get to work!"

"Roger that!" Yaoyorozu replied as the smaller groups went their seperate ways.

There were fewer people out by the river and smaller water fissures, Toru found. Most of the victims likely—and logically—would be caught up in the urban areas, trapped beneath rubble and the like. But that didn't stop the trio from searing there anyway, and in the end it seemed to pay off. "Todoroki! Tsu!" Toru called as she spotted something over by the rock pools. "Over there!"

"Help! I can't swim!" Cried the victim as they clung to the outermost rocks.

"I'll be right there, ribbit!" Asui called as she expertly dove into the water, narrowly missing any hidden rocks.

"We might need to warm the boy up!" Todoroki said to Toru as the pair ran after Tsu. "Let's get some firewood!"

"Leave it to me!" Toru chirped, running off in the opposite direction as the remaining two left to find firewood and other needed accoutrements.

Barely two minutes later, both teens had reunited with the frog-heroine down on the beach where she was joined by a prone boy who lay on the sand in sopping wet clothes and matted locks. "Tsu?" Toru called as she dropped her load of fire next to the heterochromatic boy for him to build the fire. "What's wrong?"

"His back is hurt and he can't feel his legs" Asui replied with a hint of concern bleeding into her tone. Out of the corner of her eyes she noted that Todoroki was awkwardly helping his friend by the fire, hovering over him like he was about to go off like the first one had.

"Tsu, can you keep his head still?" Toru asked as crouched by the boy's feet.

"Ribbit" Tsu nodded, gently taking the boy's head in her hands, likely recalling one of 13 and Recovery Girl's many, _many _lessons.

"Sir? Can you feel this?" Toru poked at the soles of the boy's feet gently at first and then a little harder.

"N-no" He warbled, shaking his head slightly.

"Keep still, keep still" Asui cooed, tightening her grip only slightly.

"All right" Toru nodded, eyeing up the boy's height before turning to the boy behind them. "Todoroki? Can you make a sheet of ice? Something about 5 feet long that we can use as a stretcher?"

"Sure" The boy nodded.

"St-stretcher?!" Their prone victim worried, struggling slightly as tears beaded in the corners of his eyes.

"H-hey! Keep still!" Toru clamped her hands around the boy's ankles, gently pinning him to the ground. "It's just a precaution, you're gonna be fine. Promise"

"O-okay"

"Ready?" Toru glanced between Todoroki who knelt by the frozen stretcher (complete with handles) ready to roll the item under the victim, Tsu who remained holding onto his head. Both gave a nod of affirmation as Toru heaved a breath of confidence. "Okay, roll on three" The invisible girl let go of the boy's ankles and moved to Todoroki's opposite, ready to roll the boy far enough to slide the stretcher underneath him. "One, two, three!"

Slow and steadily, they raised and lowered the boy onto the cold stretcher (there wasn't really anything they could do about the temperature, save for ripping up their own costumes), all the while Asui remained clinging to the boy's head. Once he was situated, Toru engulfed the pair in a violet forcefield, leaving them to float like flies in a bubble and allowing the invisible girl to manoeuvre the two of them without much trouble whilst Todoroki hauled the other tired victim onto his back. "Right, let's go"

** _KA-BOOM!_ **

"Explosions?" Todoroki queried as all three turned at once to locate the source of the familiar noise.

"What—!" Toru gasped, pausing only momentarily as she watched smoke plumes billow across the broken arena.

"You don't think it's the League of Villains again, do you?" Asui glanced down at the pair below her.

"I mean, with our track record…" Toru shifted nervously at the thought. Her last experience with them was bad enough, she wasn't keen for a repeat so soon.

_"A villain has completed another large scale attack!" _Mera's voice sounded far too happy for what he was relaying to them. _"The terrorists have appeared and are beginning to sweep the area. Hero candidates at the scene should continue their rescue efforts while also suppressing the newly arrived villains"_

"It sounds like it's part of the exam, ribbit" Asui noted in relief; a sentiment the other two shared. A sentiment which was quickly dashed however by the next question.

"But who's the villain, then? Surely not one of the Pros?"


End file.
